St Andrews Events and Reading Groups
We're delighted to bring our all-year-round Literary Festival to our bookshop in St Andrews. We have a packed calendar which ranges from readings in the bookshop to evenings with literary stars.
Sophia Smith Galer on How to Kill a Language
Monday 17th August, 7.30pm
Sophia Smith Galer on How to Kill a LanguageIt's estimated that every month a language goes extinct. Journalist Sophia Smith Galer explores the full measure of …
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Simon Sebag Montefiore
Thursday 20th August, 7.30pm
Simon Sebag Montefiore on The CauldronThis internationally bestselling author and historian is coming to St Andrews to talk about how the Middle East of 1900 became …
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Book Salad
Tuesday 25th August, 6.30pm
Book Salad meets at the end of the month at 6:30pm, usually on a Tuesday, and you're very welcome to join us. To make a salad …
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Andrey Kurkov
Thursday 27th August, 7.30pm
Andrey Kurkov on Lost SoldiersDescribed as "Ukraine's greatest living writer", we look forward to welcome back Andrey Kurkov for his third book book in his Kyiv …
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Roger McStravick on The King of Clubs
Friday 28th August, 7.30pm
Roger McStravick on The King of ClubsWe are delighted to welcome back local golf historian Roger McStravick who will introduce us to one of the lesser …
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Cathy Rentzenbrink on The Agatha Christie Cure
Monday 31st August, 7.30pm
Cathy Rentzenbrink on The Agatha Christie CureCathy is coming to St Andrews to talk about her first literary love: Agatha Christie. This is a literary detective …
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Robert Harris for Agrippa
Tuesday 1st September, 7.30pm
Robert Harris on AgrippaA visit from Robert Harris is always a highlight of our Literary Festival. He returns to St Andrews with a new compelling new …
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Sabrina Ghayour on Persiana One
Wednesday 2nd September, 7.30pm
Sabrina Ghayour on Persiana OneThe master of Persian cooking returns with another set of flavourful dishes.From the Queen of Middle Eastern cookery, every recipe in Persiana …
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Garry Mackenzie on Firth
Thursday 3rd September, 7.30pm
Garry Mackenzie on FirthJoin Fife-based poet Garry Mackenzie for another poetic exploration of Scotland's landscape, culture, and literary heritage. He returns with Firth, a layered poetic …
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Ian Bradley on Liquid Faith
Friday 4th September, 7.30pm
Since time immemorial, water has been a major theme in myth, religion and folklore throughout the world.With its 12,000-mile coastline, as well as a plethora of …
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Gordon Brown on The Future Starts with Us
Saturday 5th September, 7.30pm
Gordon Brown on The Future Starts With UsWe welcome Gordon Brown back to St Andrews who through decades of experience and new research reveals how global …
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A Book and a Bite
Monday 7th September, 6.30pm
The theme of this book group a simple - incontrovertibly fine books accompanied by slightly more controversial, interpretive food pairings for each selection.For our first book …
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Colin Bramwell for Fetch
Tuesday 8th September, 7.30pm
Colin Bramwell on FetchJoin us for a night of poetry and Celtic folklore with the Scottish poet Colin Bramwell.In Celtic folklore a fetch is a shadowy …
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Christopher de Hamel on The Migrants: A Memoir with Manuscripts
Wednesday 9th September, 7.30pm
Christopher de Hamel on The MigrantsChristopher joins us for his astounding new book, The Migrants: A Memoir in Manuscripts. This is a coming-of-age saga with extraordinary …
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Ed Conway
Thursday 10th September, 7pm
Ed Conway on Trade WorldEd is joining us in St Andrews for his new book on trade told through the story of three commonplace products - …
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Jonn Elledge on 31 Inventions That Built our World
Saturday 12th September, 7.30pm
Jonn Elledge on 31 Inventions That Built Our WorldJoin Jonn Elledge, author of A History of the World in 47 Borders, for another fascinating look into …
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Val McDermid & Jo Sharp
Monday 14th September, 7.30pm
Val McDermid & Jo Sharp on The Door of the SeasTwo bookshop favourites return for an imaginative retelling of The Darien Project in the latest installment …
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Maggie O'Farrell on Land
Tuesday 15th September, 7.30pm
Maggie O'Farrell on LandAuthor of Hamnet and I Am, I Am, I Am. Winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction, and Oscar nominated.Maggie joins us in …
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Gabriella Bennett on How to Build a City
Wednesday 16th September, 7.30pm
Gabriella Bennett on How to Build a CityJourney into the urban future with award winning Scottish journalist Gabriella Bennett.A moveable city in the Arctic Circle. Tower …
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Ali Stoner on Scran
Thursday 17th September, 7.30pm
Ali Stoner on ScranJourney to the heart of Scottish cooking with Ali Stoner, proprietor of the Roving Haggis social media accounts."This is more than a cookbook; …
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Andrew Pettegree for The Bookshop: A History of Bookselling
Friday 18th September, 7.30pm
Andrew Pettegree on The Bookshop: A History of BooksellingAn event near and dear to our hearts, as University of St Andrews' own Andrew Pettegree (FBA, Professor …
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Father Ted's Ardal O'Hanlon
Saturday 19th September, 7.30pm
Ardal O'Hanlon on A Plot to Die ForThe first in a mystery series from the much-loved Irish actor, writer and comedian, for readers who enjoy the …
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Colin Kidd on Twilight of the Dons
Monday 21st September, 7.30pm
Colin Kidd on Twilight of the Intellectuals: British Intellectuals from World War II to ThatcherismJoin Colin Kidd, Bishop Wardlaw Professor of History at the University of …
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Arthur der Weduwen on The Last Invasion of England
Tuesday 22nd September, 7.30pm
Arthur Der Weduwen on The Last Invasion of EnglandWhat a thrill to welcome back University of St Andrews Lecturer in Modern History Arthur Der Weduwen for …
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Paul Johnson
Wednesday 23rd September, 7.30pm
Paul Johnson on Challenging InequalitiesThe need to address inequality has never been more urgent. Challenging Inequalities offers a road map for how we have arrived at …
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Robert Barrington on Corrupted Kingdom
Thursday 24th September, 7.30pm
Robert Barrington on Corrupted Kingdom: Britain's Disappearing Integrity and How We Can Get it BackGet an inside look on the corruption sweeping Great Britain and efforts …
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Edward Shawcross onThe People's Emperor
Friday 25th September, 7.30pm
Edward Shawcross on The People's Emperor: The Unlikely Rise and Spectacular Fall of Napoleon IIIEdward Shawcross, author of The Last Emperor of Mexico, returns with Napoleon …
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Robert Crawford on Haiku
Monday 28th September, 7.30pm
Robert Crawford on Haiku: How the modern world came to fall in love with small poems from JapanIf you were here for Robert Crawford's last event …
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Sharon Blackie
Tuesday 29th September, 7pm
Sharon Blackien on Ripening: Why Women Need Fairy Tales Now 'Ripening show us how we can move through life with vision and sensitivity. A fascinating, thought-provoking …
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The Maclean Brothers on Three Brothers in a Boat
Wednesday 30th September, 7.30pm
The Maclean Brothers on Three Brothers in a BoatThey captivated the world in 2025 with their epic voyage across the Pacific, and now they come to …
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Emile Chabal on The Age of Hobsbawn
Thursday 1st October, 7.30pm
Emile Chabal on The Age of HobsbawmJoin Emile Chabal, Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Edinburgh for an exploration of the life and times …
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Jess Elliott Dennison on Vegetable Recipes
Friday 2nd October, 7.30pm
Jess Elliott Dennison on Vegetable RecipesFor the first time, Edinburgh cooking sensation Jess Elliott Dennison comes to St Andrews to share her collection of delicious, vegetable …
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Alice Strang on The Scottish Colourists
Tuesday 6th October, 7.30pm
Samuel John Peploe, John Duncan Fergusson, George Leslie Hunter and Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell - a set of radical artists who enlivened the Scottish art scene …
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James Palmer on Charlemagne's Dream
Wednesday 7th October, 7.30pm
The dynamic, expansionist dynasty that forged the Middle Ages.Today, the Carolingians are best known as the dynasty of Charlemagne. In a few remarkable decades spanning the …
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Humza Yousaf on Under Fire
Thursday 8th October, 7.30pm
Humza Yousaf on Under FireWe welcome Humza Yousaf to St Andrews for an intimate account of how a son of immigrants grew up to become the …
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Benjamin Moser on Anti-Zionism: A Jewish History
Friday 9th October, 7.30pm
Benjamin Moser on Anti-Zionism: A Jewish HistoryJoin Pulitzer Prize winning author Benjamin Moser for a sweeping and revelatory history of the hidden tradition of Jewish thinkers …
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Erin Goeres on Nineteen Days in Autumn
Monday 12th October, 7.30pm
Erin Goeres on Nineteen Days in Autumn: A New History of 1066 Join us for a an evening for a character-led history of the most famous …
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Jay Rayner for Nights Out in the Kitchen
Tuesday 13th October, 7.30pm
Jay Rayner on Nights Out in the Kitchen'It's time to share a little more of my love for home cooking and the merry dance of appetite …
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Terry Deary on A History of the World in Ten Wars
Wednesday 14th October, 7.30pm
Terry Deary on A History of the World in Ten WarsWe welcome to St Andrews the author of the acclaimed Horrible Histories series and for his …
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Alistair Moffat on Assassins and Secret Listeners:
Tuesday 20th October, 7.30pm
Uncover the story of a nation's hidden heroes.Throughout Britain, all day, every day and in the dead of night, the secret listeners went about their solitary …
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Simon Garfield on The Pen: A Human History
Wednesday 21st October, 7.30pm
From a reed cut on the banks of the Nile to the Sharpie, the pen has been with us for millennia. And all of humanity - …
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Alice Oswald on Rhapsody: A Manifesto
Thursday 22nd October, 7.30pm
A daring, genre-defying work of non-fiction from one of our greatest poetsAlice Oswald goes in search of poetry in its original, wildest form - before it …
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Frances Fowle on Claude Monet: A Life in Letters
Monday 26th October, 7.30pm
The first major English-language publication dedicated to Monet's letters, expertly selected and richly illustrated with his paintings.Claude Monet's letters - to his friends, family, fellow artists, …
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A Court of Thornes and Roses 6
Tuesday 27th October, 12am
Midnight Launch for A Court of Thornes and Roses 6Join us in the bookshop at midnight on publication date for the highly anticipated new book from …
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Alissa Timoshkina on Lozhka
Tuesday 27th October, 7.30pm
In Lozhka, award-winning writer and co-founder of #CookforUkraine, Alissa Timoshkina celebrates Eastern Europe through one of its most humble and powerful symbols: the spoon. Blending soulful …
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Susie Dent
Wednesday 28th October, 7.30pm
A brand-new linguistic mystery from Countdown's resident lexicographer, Susie Dent, set in the city of OxfordA mysterious letter. A silenced scholar. A city paved with injustice.When …
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British Museum Lectures: The Tudor Heart
Wednesday 28th October, 7.30pm
Rachel King on The Tudor HeartA new title in the British Museum's Object in Focus series that tells the remarkable story of an enamelled gold necklace …
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Dan Jones
Thursday 29th October, 7.30pm
Dan Jones on CastlesWe are happy to welcome bestselling historian, TV presenter and award-winning journalist Dan Jones back to St Andrews. In Castles, Dan tells a …
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A Tasting with Mastery of Wine Julia Harding
Friday 30th October, 7.30pm
Julia Harding on The World Atlas of WineWe are pleased to welcome Julia Harding for the latest edition of The World Atlas of Wine. Join us …
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Tim Hayward
Wednesday 4th November, 7.30pm
Tim Hayward on The Cocktail HourIt's 7:30pm: clear your mind of the cares of the day. Relax and fix yourself a drink. It's The Cocktail Hour.The …
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Rick Stein
Thursday 5th November, 7.30pm
Rick Stein on Rick Stein's Cookery CourseRick Stein has been cooking for the last 60 years. Now, for the first time, he shares his complete cookery …
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Nick Harkaway on The Taper Man
Wednesday 11th November, 7.30pm
'Le Carre's legacy is in good hands - Smiley is back with a vengeance!'IAN RANKIN'Note-perfect'MICK HERRONNick Harkaway is the acclaimed author of Gnomon, The Gone-Away World, …
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Lessons in Chemistry author Bonnie Garmus on Peck & Peck
Thursday 12th November, 7.30pm
Lessons in Chemistry author Bonnie Garmus on Peck & PeckWe are thrilled to welcome the bestselling author of Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie Garmus for her newest …
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John Boyne on The Weight of Angels
Wednesday 18th November, 7.30pm
John Boyne on The Weight of AngelsInternational bestselling author John Boyne is coming to St Andrews to explore a the life Oscar Wilde never had.Rather than …
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Ashley Douglas on With My Own Hand
Monday 23rd November, 7.30pm
Ashley Douglas on With My Own HandWe welcome historian and translator Ashley Douglas to St Andrews to talk about the life of Marie Maitland, a story …
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Ian Rankin on The Heights
Friday 27th November, 7.30pm
Ian Rankin on The HeightsSir Ian Rankin returns to St Andrews for his first standalone thriller in two decades!The Heights: a gleaming, high-end high-rise looming over …
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British Museum Lectures: The Bayeux Tapestry
Thursday 14th January, 7.30pm
This January we're joined by Sue Brunning from the British Museum to discuss the history of The Bayeux Tapestry.The British Museum have produced a number of …
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