We’re honoured to announce that in a rare UK appearance the celebrated Greek poet, Phoebe Giannisi, is coming to the shop next month to discuss and read from her sumptuous new publication, Goatsong. And to add to the excitement, Phoebe will be in conversation with the book’s translator, Brian Sneeden; a multi-award-winning poet as well as a celebrated translator.

Here’s more on the book from Fitzcarraldo:

‘The ancient Greek word for tragedy (τραγωδία) is a compound of goat (τράγος) and song (ᾠδή). In Phoebe Giannisi’s Goatsong, the seam that connects human and animal, myths and history, is the body.

‘In these lyric enactments, all is transformative and transformed; territories of land, the body and history are blurred, and nothing is still. From Homer to Donna Haraway, Derrida to state archives, klephtic ballads and rebetiko, to Parmenides and Giannisi’s dog, Ivan, the many human and animal voices of Goatsong form an incantatory lyricism and layered engagement unique in literature.’

This is an unmissable opportunity to hear from a towering presence in modern poetry.

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‘It abounds with imaginative, unexpected phrasing, and is suitably full of light, reflections on memory, home and loss, all with a syntactical velocity.’
Declan Ryan, Irish Times

‘I was immersed in Phoebe Giannisi’s Goatsong. I grieved with her as a mother, and rejoiced with her as a lover of all wild and wonderful places. Her work lives in me and inspires me to work harder to capture the truth – as the best poetry always does.’
Sasha Dugdale, author of The Strongbox

‘Goatsong intoxicates with its animality of language, gorgeous lyric and off-kilter metamorphoses, by turns wry, ecstatic and strange. Reading Phoebe Giannisi is like reading pre-Socratic philosophy on all fours, where flies buzz on and off the page and the polyphony of species and elements is both dazzling subject and all-encompassing medium.’
Daisy Lafarge, author of Paul

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Phoebe Giannisi is the author of eight collections of poetry. A 2016 Humanities Fellow of Columbia University, Giannisi is a professor of architecture at the University of Thessaly, and co-editor of the literary journal frmk. She has translated Ancient Greek lyric poetry as well as the poetry of Barbara Koehler, Gregor Laschen, Jesper Svenbro and André Pieyre de Mandiargues. She lives in Volos, Greece.

Brian Sneeden is the author of Last City (Carnegie Mellon, 2018). His poetry and translations have received the Iowa Review Award in Poetry, an NEA Literature Translation Fellowship, the World Literature Today Translation Award for Poetry, the Constantinides Memorial Translation Prize, a PEN/Heim Translation Grant and other recognitions. He is a lecturer in English at Manchester Metropolitan University.

The new novel from Polly Barton – writer, translator, festival collaborator, friend of the shop, Bristol resident, and all around good egg – is making its way out into the world on March 26th. It already has the distinction of being the only book read by all five of your humble booksellers here. My own brief report is below, but the understated headline is that we are keen.

We are delighted to say that we have secured an allocation of the limited special edition, which is available for pre-orders now via the link below. We expect these to go quickly.

We’re more than delighted to say that the acclaimed author and poet, Luke Kennard, is coming to the shop to discuss his dazzling new novel, Black Bag, with award-winning poet, author and performer, Bristol’s very own Stefan Mohamed.

Join Luke as he reveals all about this gloriously unfettered, riotus and heartening tale.

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“Such a smart and philosophical novel really has no business being this entertaining. Black Bag is hilarious, profound, tender and deranged.” Anna Metcalfe

“Black Bag is a masterpiece from one of the best writers at work today. In his endlessly quotable prose, Kennard explores modern masculinity with compassion and brutal honesty, warmth and despair.” Joe Dunthorne

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Luke Kennard is an award-winning poet and novelist; he also lectures in Creative Writing at the University of Birmingham. In 2014 he was named one of the ‘Next Generation Poets’ by the Poetry Book Society in their once-per-decade list. Hie poetry and fiction have won or been nominated for numerous prizes including the International Dylan Thomas Prize, the Forward Prize and the Desmond Elliott Prize.

Stefan Mohamed is an award-winning author, poet, performer and creative writing tutor based in Bristol. He is the author of five novels and four books of poetry, with a fifth forthcoming in 2026. He also DJs.

Tickets on sale for

International Booker Prize event in Bristol!

We’re thrilled to say that Translated By, Bristol – our collaboration with good friends Storysmith Books and the award-winning author and translator, Polly Barton – are joining forces once again with The International Booker Prize to host the prestigious award’s annual shortlist readings event in Bristol!

The event will take place at Bristol Beacon on May 15th and will feature readings and discussion from this year’s shortlisted authors and translators. The full line-up for the event will be confirmed after the shortlist has been announced on March 31st.

To whet your appetite, and to see who might be appearing at Bristol Beacon in May, take a look at the International Booker Prize longlist which was announced earlier today.

There is a good mix of different genres and subjects, a couple that I’ve read and loved myself, and plenty of books that would be well worth taking a chance on even at the cover price.

These will all be sold at 40% off, strictly while stocks last. If last year is anything to judge by, they will go quickly. They can be browsed in store or online, and can be ordered for collection or delivery. Follow the link below to peruse.