A beautiful Friday evening in summer. A book shop. Great company. A wee tipple at the end of the week – What’s not to love?
As part of The Edinburgh Bookshop’s last-Friday-of-the-month ‘speakeasy’, this June, Sandy Bennett-Haber and I were lucky enough to be invited to talk about travel. And travel with babies (and children). And writing about travel…Issues the two of us never tire of discussing!
After our winter outing to The Highland Bookshop in Fort William, the two of us are becoming quite the double act (French & Saunders; Ant & Dec; Bill & Ben. Hmm...) and this was a lovely, friendly evening in a bright yet cosy bookshop.
Sandy’s pitch, ‘Before I was a traveller, before I was a mother, I was a writer’, speaks for both of us, and here we had the opportunity to reflect on years of travel alone, and then with children – the opportunities, the differences, the highs and the lows. After all, this is what led Flamingo Rover Press to publish You Won’t Remember This: travels with babies – and Sandy spoke about the production of that book (now for sale in the shop!)
And needless to say, I managed to mention Bangladesh (a lot), and read from the publications I’ve written for over the years.
The Edinburgh Bookshop, nestled in Holy Corner, was awarded Scottish Independent Bookshop of the Year 2018 (part of the British Bookseller awards). If you’re looking for an indie shop, with a regular programme of events for children and adults, then check it out. You won’t be disappointed.
Thanks for the invitation, and to those who came along to support and listen!
Anne x
PS Thanks to Dr Eilidh AB Hall for the photo above, and to the Edinburgh Bookshop for the one below.
