The Revelation Tapes Stefan Mohamed

Tuesday 18th August, Gloucester Road Bookshop at 7.00 pm
Leading Bristol poet in conversation and reading from his latest collection


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The award-winning, much-loved Bristol author and poet, Stefan Mohamed, will be discussing and reading from his brand new poetry collection, The Revealtion Tapes. Stefan will be in conversation with fellow Bristol poet, Tom Sastry.

The Revelation Tapes showcases Stefan's unique vision and bold originality as he presents an apocalyptic near future populated by all manner of warped events and extremes.

Here's more from publisher, Broken Sleep Books:

'The Revelation Tapes... unfolds as a salvaged transmission: a film-show remastered from corroded cassettes, screened in the ruins of a drowned future, its overture barked by a game-show host of the apocalypse. Across seven acts a loose band of kids persevere through ecological collapse, blag their way into a nightclub at the end of the world, and meet God at the end of a metaphorical bullet. Mohamed braids manic comedy with grief, moving from prose tirade to scattered concrete text to group-chat syntax as he works through parasocial fixation, the remix of memory and self, and the wreckage of the overexamined mind. Mohamed's poetry loops back on itself like the river that opens and closes it, finding tenderness inside the noise.'

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; The Revelation Tapes, is his fifth. He also DJs.

Tom Sastry is political, ironic, emotional, morbid and funny in all the wrong places. He is the author of three poetry collections and one pamphlet. These have been, variously, Poetry School Book of the Year, Poetry Book Society pamphlet choice, highly commended in the Forward Prize and shortlisted for the Seamus Heaney First Collection Prize.


"Stefan Mohamed is a brilliant poet... A joyful and furious collection, and his best so far."
— Luke Kennard

"Stefan Mohamed is an unparalleled phrase maker, and this collection is rich with typographic and repetitious play that gives these poems their dark musicality."
— Suzannah Evans

"A mesmeric and sprawling work of alarming talent and uniqueness... I was gripped by the storytelling, wit and complexity of this book."
— Jake Wild Hall

The Body of the Thing: Karishma Jobanputra

Tuesday 8th September, Gloucester Road Bookshop at 7.00 pm
Brilliant debut author in conversation with award-winning Nell Osborne


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Our autumn events programme begins with the brilliant Karishma Jobanputra who will be discussing her scintillating short story collection, The Body of the Thing, in conversation with award-winning poet and novelist, Nell Osborne.

One of 2026's most anticipated debuts, the stories in The Body of the Thing, at their core, examine the myriad ways in which women negotiate all manner of body politics. Written with great wit and a fierce sensitivity, it's a stunner of a first outing, making this is an event not to be missed!

Here's more on the book from its award-winning publisher, And Other Stories:

'A lyrical and visceral short story collection, The Body of the Thing unpicks the hierarchies that thrum under our relationships. Moving from bougie neighbourhoods in Manhattan to the sun-drenched piazzas of Italy, from coastal Maine to the bustle of London, these stories chase the fallout when women's bodies are valued for their beauty and youth, dismissed and discarded when ill, or made useful as parents and caregivers. Fluid, sensual, and fearless, The Body of the Thing explores motherhood, body dysmorphia and eating disorders, and celebrates female desire in all its complicated wonder.'

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Karishma Jobanputra is a British-Indian writer currently based in London. A graduate of Columbia University's MFA Fiction Programme, where she was awarded a partial merit scholarship, a Chair's Fellowship, and the Dean's Travel Grant, her work has been listed for the Brick Lane Short Story Prize and The Disquiet Literary Prize. The Body of the Thing is her debut publication.

Nell Osborne is a poet and novelist. Her poetry pamphlet, Thank You For Everything was published by Monitor Books in 2024, and her next pamphlet, Seances Near Me, is forthcoming from Spite Press in 2027. Her debut novel, Ghost Driver (Moist Books, 2025), jointly won the Queen Mary Small Press Fiction Prize in 2026. Judge Marina Benjamin described the novel as 'administrative noir in the orbit of body horror, as if Ottessa Moshfegh had written Severance.'

Photo of Karishma Jobanputra: credit Grace Shirley


'Arresting, beautiful, humorous, observant, serious, all at the same time.'
— Paul Beatty, Booker Prize-winning author of The Sellout

'These stories are contemporary portraits of life across continents. Jobanputra's careful prose depicts all the anxiety and claustrophobia of being alive. I can't remember the last time I read a collection so compulsively.'
— Sarvat Hasin, author of Strange Girls

'Lyrical and specific, eloquent and real.'
— Raffaela Barker author of Come and Tell Me Some Lies

The Disappearers: Marlon James

Wednesday 23rd September, Lantern Hall, Bristol Beacon at 7.00 pm
One of the 21st century's most significant writers in conversation with Vanessa Kisuule


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We are delighted to announce that we will be hosting Booker Prize winner and one of the 21st century’s most acclaimed novelists, Marlon James, in September.

Marlon is coming to Bristol to introduce, discuss and read from his hugely-anticipated new novel, The Disappearers, in what is one of only four UK events the US-based author is undertaking for the book. He will be in conversation with the celebrated author, poet and performer, Vanessa Kisuule.​

The novel marks a return to the territory of Marlon's brilliant Booker winning, A Brief History of Seven Killings; the publication that fully established him as an international literary star.

Set in late 1980s Kingston Jamaica, The Disappearers is an uncompromising, acutely thought-provoking portrait of queer life in an often brutally unaccepting society. Seven gay actors confront bigotry and hate following a deadly attack at a rehearsal. Epic in its scale and awash with an unbreakable humanity, the novel confirms Marlon James’ place at the forefront of modern fiction.

This is an unmissable opportunity to hear from one of the great writers of our time.


'Epic in every sense of that word'
New York Times on A Brief History of Seven Killings, selected in NYT's 100 Best Books of the 21st Century

‘The way James uses language is amazing . . . Vigorous, intricate and captivating, [it] is hard to put down’
Ebony on A Brief History of Seven Killings

'Showcases the extraordinary capabilities of a writer whose importance can scarcely be questioned'
Independent

Past Events