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  • 2025 Poetry in Herons

    Heron Books 7a Regent Street, Bristol, United Kingdom

    Our monthly poetry series has a little break for a couple of months over winter. We return from March. Exciting announcements about the 2025 programme coming soon and lots of events and book groups to celebrate before then. Happy reading and we hope to see you at an event and in the shop soon.  

  • A Moving Weekend

    Heron Books 7a Regent Street, Bristol, United Kingdom

    Ahead of our move to 7a Regent Street, we are offering 10% off for our last weekend in the Arcade. That's the whole event. Very simple. 1st-2nd February. 10% off everything you buy in the shop. Whilst your here, you could also reminisce with us about the stunning surroundings in which Heron Books first began. Come and gaze with us at the glass roof, thinking of the majesty of the place (probably while beset by deafening hail, given the current storms). Come and speculate with us about whether that weird hum is the ghost of the Arcade’s architect. Come and congratulate us on the sheer amount of weetabix we’re consuming in order to carry out the move. Major arm muscles developing here. And then please continue to come and enjoy our little independent when we open at 7a Regent Street just round the corner.

  • We Have Flown Away to 7a

    Heron Books 7a Regent Street, Bristol, United Kingdom

    At 9.30 on 8th Feburary, Heron Books opens a new door at 7a Regent Street. Please do come and see us on 8th February to find out if we've managed to shelve all the books in their new location. In the morning we'll have some sweet treats to offer from our favourite East Village Cafe. In the (early) evening, we'll be having a little party: (Not actually) champagne served from 4.45. A couple of silly words from me from 5pm. A couple of wise poems from Bob Walton. And then some more drinks until 6pm. Hope to see lots of you there.

  • Growing up Human with Dr Brenna Hassett

    Bristol Folk House 40a Park St, Bristol

    We are delighted to support this event organised by the Bristol Humanists. Tracking deep into our evolutionary history, anthropological science has begun to unravel one particular feature that sets us apart from the many, many animals that came before us – our uniquely long childhoods. In the Darwin Day lecture Brenna Hassett will look at how we have diverged from our ancestral roots to stay 'forever young' – or at least what seems like forever – and how the evolution of childhood is a critical part of the human story. Full details and tickets: https://wegottickets.com/event/643698

  • Are the Introverts Winning? with Marie le Conte

    Unitarian Meeting Hall Brunswick Square, Bristol, United Kingdom

    Heron Books is delighted to support this event organised by the Bristol Humanists.

    Full details and tickets: https://www.meetup.com/bristol-humanists/events/305649303/ 

    In our post-pandemic online world are we becoming more and more socially isolated? If so, what does that mean for us humans, the most social of all animals? We have evolved and are genetically pre-disposed to live in large social groups. Social interaction and cooperation is key to our 'success' and flourishing as a species. In this talk, based on a recent article in New Humanist, Marie le Conte will make the case that the pandemic, and near universal access to the internet, has just speeded up a fundamental long-term shift in our social patterns, leading to reduced social interaction.

  • World Book Day

    Heron Books 7a Regent Street, Bristol, United Kingdom

    Pop in to pick up your World Book Day choice! 

    World Book Day champions the fun of reading, because it seriously improves lives. Reading for fun is the single biggest indicator that a child will grow up to enjoy a happier and more successful life – more than their family circumstances, their parents’ educational backgrounds or their income.

  • Simon Scarrow: A Death in Berlin

    Bristol Central Library Deanery Road, Bristol, United Kingdom

    A free lunchtime talk with Sunday Times No. 1 bestselling author Simon Scarrow in the Reading Room at Bristol Central Library. Simon will be in conversation discussing his new book A Death in Berlin, the latest in his CI Schenke series.
    Simon Scarrow is a Sunday Times No. 1 bestselling author with several million copies of his books sold worldwide. After a childhood spent travelling the world, he pursued his great love of history as a teacher, before becoming a full-time writer. His books - which have sold 6 million copies - include two earlier Berlin thrillers featuring CI Schenke, BLACKOUT and DEAD OF NIGHT which was a No.2 ebook bestseller.

  • Poetry in Herons: John Greening

    Heron Books 7a Regent Street, Bristol, United Kingdom

    Poetry in Herons returns!

    For our March monthly poetry reading, we are delighted to welcome John Greening.

    Free entry. Come for the poetry. Stay for the poetry.

    Some seating. Some standing. Get in touch with us about any requirements you may have.

    It is free and unticketed but it would help if you let us know that you are coming. RSVP to read@heronbooks.mom

    John Greening is a poet, critic, editor and translator, a Bridport, Arvon and Cholmondeley winner and author of over twenty collections.

    U.A.Fanthorpe (1929-2009) was one of the UK's most popular poets, but it's not well known that her writing career began in Bristol.

    There has not been a new selection of her poems available for many years and John Greening will be introducing his annotated edition of her work tonight and also reading some of his own poetry. 

  • Harriet Baker signing Rural Hours

    Heron Books 7a Regent Street, Bristol, United Kingdom

    Join us to celebrate the paperback publication of Rural Hours by Harriet Baker.

    A Times Book of the Year 2024, not to mention a Heron Books Book of the Year. Virginia Woolf, Rosamond Lehmann and Sylvia Townsend Warner fans, this is a must read. If you are yet to become a fan of theirs, this is also a must read. We are so excited to share this book and the three authors whose lives and writing it explores with you. Harriet Baker tells the story of three very different women, each of whom moved to the countryside and was forever changed by it. We encounter them at quiet moments – pausing to look at an insect on the windowsill; jotting down a recipe; or digging for potatoes, dirt beneath their nails.

    Come in to meet the author, get your copy signed and enjoy a drink with us. 

  • Andrew Harding: A Small, Stubborn Town in Ukraine

    Clifton Library 13 Princess Victoria St, Bristol, United Kingdom

    Andrew Harding will speak about his book, A Small, Stubborn Town In Ukraine.

    The Russians are invading. But the locals have a plan.

    It's March 2022 and Russian tanks are roaring across the vast, snow-dusted fields of Ukraine. Their destination: Voznesensk, a town with a small bridge that could change the course of the war. The heavily-armed Russians are expecting an easy fight - or no fight at all. After all, Voznesensk is a quiet farming town, full of pensioners. But the locals appear to have other ideas. Svetlana, a grandmother with arthritis, reacts in fury when Russian troops turn her cottage into their blood-soaked headquarters.
    Andrew Harding is a British journalist and author. He has been living and working abroad as a foreign correspondent for the past 3 decades.

  • Poetry in Herons: Deborah Harvey

    Heron Books 7a Regent Street, Bristol, United Kingdom

    For our April monthly poetry reading, we are delighted to welcome Deborah Harvey.

    Free entry. Come for the poetry. Stay for the poetry.

    Arrive at 5pm. We'll offer you something fizzy. Usually a drink but perhaps one day it will be a sherbet fountain.

    5.10-5.40ish, we'll enjoy some poetry.

    5.40-6pm, finish the fizzy things and perhaps buy the poet's books.

    Some seating. Some standing. Get in touch with us about any requirements you may have.

    It is free and unticketed but it would help if you let us know that you are coming. RSVP to read@heronbooks.mom

  • Dis Poetry: A Tribute to Benjamin Zephaniah

    St George's, Bristol St George’s Bristol, Great George Street, Bristol, United Kingdom

    Part of Lyra Bristol Poetry Festival 2025

    Heron Books will run the bookstall at this special Bristol tribute to Benjamin Zephaniah, celebrating his extraordinary work and enduring legacy.

    The event will feature readings of Zephaniah’s iconic poems by renowned figures in UK poetry, including his Poem for St Pauls performed in Bristol in 1983 for the BBC, as well as talks, personal stories and reflections from Benjamin’s friends and family members.

    Come along and pay tribute to one of the most influential and remarkable poets in living memory, celebrating his immeasurable contributions to poetry, activism, nature, health and social justice.