Village Books

Meet multi-million-copy selling, award-winning author (and former Children’s Laureate) Cressida Cowell, creator of the How to Train Your Dragon (also a DreamWorks film and TV franchise) series. Cressida will be signing her latest bestselling book, Which Way Round The Galazy, and her other books, too. Bring along your own sketchbook for Cressida to see, and get a free sticker sheet with each book of Which Way Round The Galaxy. No tickets required!

Come and celebrate the 25th birthday of the Gruffalo with a special day of events! The Gruffalo will be touring the country and will be at our bookshop on Sunday 19th May from 2pm to 5pm. Meet the Gruffalo and get your photo taken! Our brilliant face-painter will be here doing free face painting from 1.30om and we’ll have fabulous free helium balloons. There will also be 15% off children’s books all day. Plus, we’ll have a special birthday cake to wish the Gruffalo a very Happy Birthday! No tickets required!

The fantastically funny and relatable Lottie Brooks series, written and illustrated by number one children’s bestseller Katie Kirby, is filled with first experiences, friendship fails, embarrassing moments and plenty of laughs. And so is this event! Can Lottie get through term without leaving chaos in her wake, and with her BFFs intact? Join Katie to find out – and don’t forget your notebook and pens as there will be draw-along fun for all! Tickets: £8 (including Eventbrite fee) Book tickets HERE A Village Books and Dulwich Festival event

Join us for an afternoon with Cathy Newman where she’ll be discussing her new book The Ladder: Life Lessons From Women Who Scaled The Heights (& Dodged The Snakes) Inspired by Cathy’s show on Times Radio, The Ladder brings together discussions between women – about work, love, growth, challenge, the big decisions and the stories of their lives. Offering inspiration and wise counsel from some of the world’s most acclaimed and influential women, this book is an insight and a trove of solidarity, turning over ideas of change, anger, illness, imposter syndrome, self-knowledge, purpose, how to not panic in a crisis and how to stop worrying you’re boring when there isn’t one. Cathy Newman is one of Channel 4 News’ main studio presenters. She is an award-winning investigative journalist whose scoops have allegations of sexual harassment in Westminster, an investigation into a British paedophile who abused vulnerable boys in Kenya; and allegations of violent abuse by the British barrister John Smyth. She was the only broadcast journalist to travel with Angelina Jolie and the then foreign secretary William Hague to the Congo as part of their campaign against sexual violence. Cathy also hosts her own show on Times Radio. Cathy’s first book Bloody Brilliant Women was published in 2018. Tickets: £12 (Plus Eventbrite fee) Book tickets HERE A Village Books and Dulwich Festival event

Join us for an evening with bestselling author and entrepreneur, Ella Mills. Ella is a champion of plant-based living. She started the popular recipe website, deliciouslyella.com, before releasing a #1 app and writing the fastest selling debut cookbook in the UK, Deliciously Ella, which was named Amazon’s biggest-selling book in the year of publication and was a New York Times bestseller. She has since released a further five bestselling books and built a social media audience of approximately 4 million people. In 2015 Ella started working with her husband, Matthew Mills, and together they have launched over 100 plant-based food products into 10,000+ stores across the UK and globally, with customers including Tesco, Ocado, Morrisons, Waitrose, Holland and Barrett, Boots, Sainsburys and more. With a team of almost 50 people, they’re running one of the fastest growing food brands in the UK. They have also opened a London restaurant, Plants, dedicated to showing the breath of plant-based cooking. Ella will be chatting to journalist Hannah MacInnes. Tickets: £15 (plus Eventbrite fee) Book tickets HERE A Village Books and Dulwich Festival event

What’s the connection between Shakespeare and maths? A lot, as it turns out! Shakespeare grew up in a time of remarkable mathematical innovation. From astronomy to probability, music to multiplication, new mathematical ideas were taking off – and much of this was reflected in his work. In this highly engaging book, award-winning author Rob Eastaway explores the surprising and entertaining ways that maths and numbers crop up in Shakespeare’s plays. Find out how Tudors multiplied, why Shakespeare never ended a line with the word orange, and why dice-playing was a serious hazard for the unwary. With historical asides about games, optics, astronomy, music and magic, you will never think about maths, history or Shakespeare the same way again. Tickets: £12 (Plus Eventbrite fee) Book tickets HERE A Village Books and Dulwich Festival event

From the popular tech journalist and Movers and Shakers podcaster, also known across the world for documenting his journey with rescue dog #SophiefromRomania, comes a moving memoir in search of the truth behind his isolated childhood and absent father. Rory Cellan-Jones knew he was the child of a love affair between two BBC employees. But until his mother died and he found a file labelled ‘For Rory’ he had no idea of the extent of their relationship, and why his unconventional childhood had so tested the bond between him and his mother. ‘For Rory,’ his mother had written on the file, ‘in the hope that it will help him understand how it really was …’ Tickets: £12 (including Eventbrite fee) Book tickets HERE A Village Books and Dulwich Festival event

Join us for an evening of murder and mystery as local crime writers Abigail Dean, Christie Watson and Susan Allott talk about how they keep the reader guessing. Three best-selling writers explore how secrets and lies from the past drive dilemmas and betrayal in the future. Abigail Dean is the author of bestselling Girl A; her new novel is Day One which follows the after-effects of a tragic shooting in a small community. Christie Watson, is the author of The Language of Kindness and was a nurse in the NHS for 20 years. Moral Injuries is her debut crime novel. Susan Allott is author of The House on Rye Lane, a taut thriller following the lives of three different inhabitants of a house in Peckham. Tickets: £12 (plus Eventbrite fee) Book tickets HERE A Village Books and Dulwich Festival event

2.6 billion people are inhabitants of former British colonies. The empire’s influence upon the quarter of the planet it occupied, and its gravitational influence upon the world outside it, has been profound: from the spread of Christianity by missionaries to nearly 1 in 3 driving on the left side of the road, and even shaping the origins of international law. Yet Britain’s idea of its imperial history and the world’s experience of it are two very different things. ­­ In Empireworld, award-winning author and journalist, Sathnam Sanghera extends his examination of British imperial legacies beyond Britain. Travelling the globe to trace its international legacies – from Barbados and Mauritius to India and Nigeria and beyond – Sanghera demonstrates just how deeply British imperialism is baked into our world. And why it’s time Britain was finally honest with itself about empire. ‘A remarkable and important work – one that is finely judged, beautifully written and not just a welcome corrective but a book for our times. This is essential reading. – Peter Frankopan Tickets: £12 (plus Eventbrite fee) Buy tickets HERE A Village Books and Dulwich Festival event

Two days after his eighteenth birthday, Kenny Imafidon was charged with the murder of a seventeen-year-old boy in south-east London. The middle child of a single mother with ambitions for her children, Kenny grew up near an estate in Peckham where deprivation and hopelessness were rife, and gang culture flourished in his community. Kenny faced a minimum of thirty years behind bars – longer than the life he had lived. When the case against Kenny collapsed, he quickly realised that his name was still inextricably linked with a horrific crime he hadn’t committed. He decided to rewrite his story. It began with The Kenny Report, which he delivered to the House of Commons and which detailed the experiences of marginalised young people who drift into gangs, and has led to extensive work with charities, communities and policy-makers that is helping to change the narratives of other young people just like Kenny. A candid and unfiltered take on some of the most challenging topics that define our times, That Peckham Boy is a personal manifesto exploring what it means to be young, Black and poor in the city. It is shaped by Kenny’s difficult childhood, his transformative time in prison, and the people and conversations that took him from being on trial for murder into the company of some of the most successful people in the world. Tickets: £12 (plus Eventbrite fee) Book tickets HERE A Village Books and Dulwich Festival event

Award-winning and bestselling cook Anna Jones is back with a new book – Easy Wins: 12 flavour hits, 125 delicious recipes, 365 days of good eating. In Easy Wins, Anna gives her golden rules for Easy Wins in the kitchen with super-simple recipes that are bursting with flavour and kind to both the planet and busy schedules. Anna will be chatting to journalist and author Felicity Cloake about the 12 hero ingredients that are guaranteed to make your food taste great: lemons, olive oil, onions, peanut butter, mustard, tahini and more. In Easy Wins, Anna distils over 20 years of experience on how to layer flavour and texture. There’s also practical advice on how to season plus plenty of ideas for invaluable vegetarian swaps as well as how to reduce waste and use less energy when cooking. Easy Wins will soon become your go-to for the most flavourful dishes that come together quickly and prom­ise daily moments of triumph. Anna Jones is a cook, writer, the voice of modern vegetarian cooking and the author of the bestselling One: Pot, Pan, Planet, A Modern Way to Eat, A Modern Way to Cook and The Modern Cook’s Year. “A peek into Anna’s kitchen cupboards—and her best-kept secrets. For when it’s 8pm, you’re starving, and you want a Tuesday night triumph. An easy, honest, delicious win.” Yotam Ottolenghi Tickets: Standard ticket: £12 Book & ticket: £37 (includes a copy of Easy Wins by Anna Jones, book RRP £28). Buy tickets

Spend an afternoon with ‘National Treasure’ Michael Rosen to celebrate the publication of Getting Better in paperback. Chosen by the Guardian and the BBC as one of their ‘Books of 2023’, Getter Better is an essential companion for anyone who has loved and lost, or struggled and survived. Michael Rosen has grieved the loss of a child, lived with debilitating chronic illness, and faced death itself when seriously unwell in hospital. In spite of this he has survived and has even learned to find joy in life in the aftermath of tragedy. In Getting Better, he shares his story and the lessons he has learned along the way. Exploring the roles that trauma and grief have played in his own life, Michael investigates the road to recovery, asking how we can find it within ourselves to live well again after – or even during – the darkest times of our lives. ‘If I could prescribe Getting Better to the entire nation, I would…It’s a book that inspires hope, courage and belief in humanity. Basically, it reminds you how to live. I loved every single word.’ Dr Rachel Clarke Please note, this event is suitable for ages 15+ Tickets: One ticket and one book: £20 (includes one copy of Getting Better by Michael Rosen, book RRP £10.99) Two tickets and one book £30 (includes one copy of Getting Better by Michael Rosen, book RRP £10.99) Book tickets HERE

The Dulwich Village Christmas Stocking Event is back! Come along and support some brilliant independent businesses and get your Christmas shopping started. There will be festive music in the village from 12pm, including the PopChoir singing at 2pm outside Harold George. There's also a Nutty’s Children’s Disco from 2-4pm at St Barnabas Parish Hall. Mystery Stocking Hunt for children throughout the village - details to follow! Plus festive fun, food and drinks at many of our Dulwich Village businesses. A FREE EVENT brought to you in partnership with The Dulwich Estate, Southwark Council and Dulwich Village Traders.

From the popular tech journalist and Movers and Shakers podcaster, also known across the world for documenting his journey with rescue dog #SophiefromRomania, comes a moving memoir in search of the truth behind his isolated childhood and absent father. Rory Cellan-Jones knew he was the child of a love affair between two BBC employees. But until his mother died and he found a file labelled ‘For Rory’ he had no idea of the extent of their relationship, and why his unconventional childhood had so tested the bond between him and his mother. ‘For Rory,’ his mother had written on the file, ‘in the hope that it will help him understand how it really was …’ Rory Cellan-Jones was the BBC’s principal technology correspondent until 2021. He now writes an influential Substack column on medical innovation and tech. Through this and his 320k+ twitter followers @ruskin147 he spreads awareness of technological developments in the fields of medicine, health care and – more specifically – Parkinson’s. Together with Jeremy Paxman and several others he has begun a new podcast on Parkinson’s called Movers and Shakers. Tickets: Book & Ticket: £30 (includes a copy of Ruskin Park, Book RRP £16.99) Standard ticket: £15 Under 18s ticket: £12 Book tickets HERE

Explore some craft gin and enjoy an evening of tasting with award winning writer and gin expert Anthony Gladman. Anthony will guide you through the tasting notes of each gin and advise on picking the perfect gin and garnish combination, whilst sampling four different gins from craft distilleries including Hayman’s London Dry Gin and Jensen’s Old Tom Gin. Anthony’s new book, Gin A Tasting Course, is a flavour-first guide to one of the world’s favourite spirits. This highly illustrated book puts you on the pathway to developing your palate and writing your own tasting notes with a selection of classic cocktails plus the iconic gin and tonic. The book also explores gin’s history, distillation and ingredients and features tasting notes for over 100 of the world’s most exciting classic, floral, citrus, herbal, fruity, spiced, and savoury gins. Anthony Gladman was named the Guild of Food Writers drinks writer of the year in 2022. He believes the key to everyday happiness lies in drinking better, not more, and he helps readers pursue this through a focus on flavour deepened by an understanding of the liquid in your glass. If you see him at the bar he’ll have a dry martini. Tickets: £15 Book tickets HERE