20th October, 2021, Steyning Cricket Club
The Steyning Bookshop is a small family run bookshop in the beautiful Sussex Downland market town of Steyning. We stock a wide range of new fiction and non-fiction, with a particular specialisation in children’s books and local-interest books, maps and guides. Clambering on the big red wooden book-train which forms the centrepiece of the children’s area in the shop is the highlight of a visit for many of our younger customers. For books not in stock we have a fast, often next-day ordering service. We also sell a beautiful array of cards, wrap, stationery and book-related gifts and toys, by suppliers such as Art Angels, Urban Graphics and Wild and Wolf.
The bookshop is the first port of call for community events, acting as the box-office for most local events including the biennial Steyning Festival. We run several book groups and have a star-studded roster of author events, having organised a diverse range of writer visits over the years, including Julia Donaldson, Kirsty Wark, Mary Berry, Kate Humble, Kate Mosse, James Naughtie, Edward Stoughton, Ben McIntyre, Nick Sharratt, Emily Gravett, Chris Cleave, Ellie Griffiths, Bethan Roberts and Peter James, to name but a few.
We now put on regular ‘Author Suppers’ in conjunction with the wonderful Sussex Produce Café just up the road, and Sara is the programme coordinator for literary events in the Steyning Festival. Please see our ‘Events’ section for more information on our past and future events. To keep up to date with our programme of events, please sign up to our monthly email newsletter.
The Steyning Bookshop was created by Sara and Robin Bowers in 1984, when they purchased a crumbly old 18th Century High Street house and converted it into a bright and lively village bookshop, a little later building an extension to house an increased selection of children’s books. Sara, an ex-primary school teacher with 3 young children at the time, was always keen to stock a wide range of children’s books and forge strong links with local schools. Sara and her daughter Gudrun continue this keen interest to this day, organising school book fairs and author visits with local schools, and having regular children’s workshops and events at the shop. Please see our ‘Schools’ section for more information on how we can bring books to life at your school!
Our efforts to make books exciting for children recently received a boost when the acclaimed children’s writer Julia Donaldson moved to the town, with her husband Malcolm. Julia has been a frequent visitor to Steyning over the years, and we have been very fortunate in having had her perform many wonderful shows, readings and sing-alongs in our summer garden marquee, so we are very happy to now be able to offer online ordering of Julia’s books via a link from Julia’s website to ours. Watch this space for details of future children’s events with Julia.