This is the time of year that has us scratching our heads and staring off into the middle distance as we try to work out how to shoehorn in yet more stacks of new books that we blithley ordered back in the summer when we didn’t have to think about where they would actually go. We tessellate and retessellate, and give thanks that at least they are roughly all the same shape.

A firm favourite in the shop, and a master of surreal humour, wit and invention, Juan Pablo Villalobos is joining us in October to discuss his superb novel, The Past Pursues Us Like Detectives, Debt Collectors, Thieves. The Mexican author will be in conversation with the poet, translator and academic, Rebecca Kosick.

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‘A rambunctious picaresque of contemporary Mexican life, rendered into English by [Daniel] Hahn with appropriate energy.’ Kit Maude, Times Literary Supplement

‘Juan Pablo Villalobos … demonstrates his classic wit and penchant for the absurd, blurring the lines of genre and protagonist with its author.’ Andrés Ordorica, The Skinny

‘The Past Pursues Us is a masterful example of how to push autobiography to the extremes of fiction, allowing the imagination to explore themes rooted in the author’s life. Themes that, when taken to their limits, reveal a sharp glimpse of an inexorable truth.’ Nicolás Giacobone, screenwriter of Birdman

‘Vividly drawn, darkly amusing and never dull.’ Chris Allnutt, Financial Times

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Juan Pablo Villalobos was born in Mexico in 1973. He’s the author of the novels Down the Rabbit Hole (shortlisted for The Guardian First Book Award), Quesadillas, I’ll Sell You a Dog, I Won’t Expect Anyone to Believe Me and The Invasion of the Spirit People, and of the non-fiction book The Other Side: Stories of Central American Teen Who Dream of Crossing the Border. His books have been translated into more than 15 languages. Down the Rabbit Hole and I Won’t Expect Anyone to Believe Me were adapted for film and premiered on Netflix. He lives in Barcelona, where he teaches writing.

Rebecca Kosick is a poet, translator, and Associate Professor of Comparative Poetry and Poetics at the University of Bristol, where she also codirects the Bristol Poetry Institute. She has published four books, most recently Dispatches from the Avant-Garage: The Alternative Press.

it’s just two weeks until we have the honour of hosting the great Spanish author and translator, Munir Hachemi. Munir will be discussing his wonderful novel, The Mulai, in conversation with the author, poet and creative writing teacher, Constantine Blintzios.

The novel’s publisher, one of our absolute favourite indie presses, Fitzcarraldo Editions, consider The Mulai to be their first science fiction publication which is adding to our excitement very much! The book, translated from Spanish by Julia Sanches, is many things: a deep examination of the fragility of civilisations, the ever evolving essence of language, the lure of religion, and much more besides.

The Mulai is the work of an extremely fertile and fascinating mind; just the kind of writer from whom we love to hear! There are a few tickets left for what will undoubtedly be a great evening.

An archaeologist travels to a distant planet to spend time among a mysterious community, a people who live in temperature-controlled domes, worship a deity called Dog, and repeat an elliptical phrase from which they draw their name: mulai, the tree comes. The descendants of a long-forgotten space mission, the Mulai have abandoned the social norms that once bound them to Earth. Over centuries of isolation, their language has become more about change than stability, and the ways they eat, write, reproduce, bury their dead and understand gender have all transformed into something almost unrecognizable.

Drawing on Borges, Le Guin and Calvino, The Mulai is a mind-bending work of metafiction whose interlocking puzzles resound with Munir Hachemi’s singularly playful and eclectic style.

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‘Wild, insightful and impressive.’ — Publishers Weekly

‘A beguiling tale of Otherness that is not only a translation from another language but another planet, a story told so well that every familiar word feels as new as an alien horizon.’ — Anton Hur, author of Toward Eternity

‘If Borges wrote hard science fiction, it might well look like this … You can almost feel the author grinning at you as you read, and I daresay you’ll end up grinning back by the end.’ — Drew Broussard, LitHub

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Munir Hachemi’s career as a writer began with them selling their stories in the form of fanzines in the bars of the Lavapiés neighbourhood of Madrid. They are the author of Living Things and The Mulai, and are also a translator from Chinese and English. In 2021, they appeared on Granta’s Best of Young Spanish-Language Novelists list.

Constantine Blintzios is a writer, translator and academic whose debut novel, The Smoke is Me, Burning was published in 2022. He has had poetry, short stories and reviews published in journals such as Visual Verse, Ash magazine, Paris Lit-Up, the Oxonian Review and the Literary Review.

Photo of Munir Hachemi credit: Carlos Gil

it’s just under three weeks until our very special event with former Booker Prize winner Marlon James at Lantern Hall, when he will be discussing his 2026 Booker-longlisted novel, The Disappearers, with the wonderul Vanessa Kisuule.

Today is the novel’s official publication day, so to mark the occasion and just in case you need any more persuading to buy a ticket for the event before they all get snapped up, we thought we’d share some quotes from a few of the many amazing early reviews The Disappearers has received. And the best place to start is this stunning piece in The New York Times:

‘James has written a masterpiece, the novel of the decade and possibly of the century thus far.’ The New York Times

‘(An) exceptional and important novel.’ Financial Times

‘The most celebrated book of the year.’ Harper’s Bazaar

‘Melancholic and unyielding … The strength of the novel … is in its scope.’ Los Angeles Times

‘Captivating and epic … a gritty, powerful, and gripping read.’ Booklist

‘Breathtaking … ambitious and astonishing.’ Publishers Weekly

‘It’s a harrowing, hilarious, magnificent novel that will stand the test of time.’ Boston Globe

‘Even when it stress-tests your senses, this sprawling depiction of gay life in Jamaica is galvanizing.’ Kirkus Reviews

‘There’s no denying this is a monumental novel.’ Ron Charles

‘Epic’ NPR

We couldn’t be more excited about what will be an evening to remember with one of this century’s great writers! The book is also now in stock, so you can see for yourselves what has captivated readers so much.

Tickets for Marlon James in conversation with Vanessa Kisuule are available from Bristol Beacon’s website, here.

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it’s such a delight for us to be hosting the great Spanish author and translator, Munir Hachemi, next month. Munir will be discussing his wonderful novel, The Mulai, in conversation with the author, poet and creative writing teacher, Constantine Blintzios.

Set on an imagined,far off planet, The Mulai, translated from Spanish by Julia Sanches, is a deep, off-kilter examination of language and the fragile nature of civilisations. It is the work of an extremely fertile and fascinating mind; just the kind of writer from whom we love to hear!

An archaeologist travels to a distant planet to spend time among a mysterious community, a people who live in temperature-controlled domes, worship a deity called Dog, and repeat an elliptical phrase from which they draw their name: mulai, the tree comes. The descendants of a long-forgotten space mission, the Mulai have abandoned the social norms that once bound them to Earth. Over centuries of isolation, their language has become more about change than stability, and the ways they eat, write, reproduce, bury their dead and understand gender have all transformed into something almost unrecognizable.

Drawing on Borges, Le Guin and Calvino, The Mulai is a mind-bending work of metafiction whose interlocking puzzles resound with Munir Hachemi’s singularly playful and eclectic style.

A great evening is undoubtedly in store!

—

‘Wild, insightful and impressive.’ — Publishers Weekly

‘A beguiling tale of Otherness that is not only a translation from another language but another planet, a story told so well that every familiar word feels as new as an alien horizon.’ — Anton Hur, author of Toward Eternity

‘If Borges wrote hard science fiction, it might well look like this … You can almost feel the author grinning at you as you read, and I daresay you’ll end up grinning back by the end.’ — Drew Broussard, LitHub

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Munir Hachemi’s career as a writer began with them selling their stories in the form of fanzines in the bars of the Lavapiés neighbourhood of Madrid. They are the author of Living Things and The Mulai, and are also a translator from Chinese and English. In 2021, they appeared on Granta’s Best of Young Spanish-Language Novelists list.

Constantine Blintzios is a writer, translator and academic whose debut novel, The Smoke is Me, Burning was published in 2022. He has had poetry, short stories and reviews published in journals such as Visual Verse, Ash magazine, Paris Lit-Up, the Oxonian Review and the Literary Review.

Photo of Munir Hachemi credit: Carlos Gil