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Paul Scraton at the Bookshop

We are pleased to announce that the writer Paul Scraton is coming back to the bookshop on Friday, 23rd May to talk about his latest novel A Dream of White Horses. I have admired Paul’s work since he published In the Pines, and even travelled to Berlin for the launch of this book. In some ways, very appropriate as the story is about journeys, with Ben travelling from London to a small German island to see his friend Pascal, who is in his last days of his life. As he travels, Ben listens to voice notes from Pascal, each relating to a photograph from a different moment in his life. In the same way that In the Pines, is for anyone who has been young, A Dream of White Horses is for travellers in both the physical sense, and for those who journey backwards in time to explore friendships and absence. A tale of friendship, the book also explores what happens when the idols of our younger years grow old and turn to us for help and validation. As well as being a great writer, Paul is a thoughtful speaker and his events are well worth attending for his ability to create an intimate atmosphere and…

The world in a town….

Lausanne is certainly one of the most cosmopolitan cities in Europe with almost one person in two hailing for other shores. To celebrate it’s 50th anniversary the Bureau Lausannois pour les immigrés has published Lausanne, une ville, un monde, featuring 50 interviews with non-Swiss residents. From restauranteurs to travellers, from teachers to dancers – by the way of a certain English bookshop – the book highlights their dramas and successes in our lakeside town. Each interview is about a page long a features a portrait of the subject. Reading like a kind of tourist brochure to a town many of us are familiar with, it reveals a side of Lausanne that few of us have considered before. What is striking is the myriad ways these immigrants have found a place in the city. The Romanian bus driver/publisher, the Eastern-European broadcaster and journalist who writes, “We are mosaics composed of pieces with different provenances”, the LGBTIQ+ asylum seekers. It seems that the world really is on our doorstep. While the reality of daily life as an immigrant may not be as vibrant as the beautiful photos show, it’s a measure of Lausanne’s attitude towards immigrants that they have published this book…