Author Matt Haig is set to open a new bookshop in Brighton. The writer, best known for his bestselling books including Reasons to Stay Alive, The Midnight Library, and How to Stop Time, is turning his hand from penning to selling books.
Haig plans to open a new bookshop in Brighton’s Seven Dials neighbourhood, an area of the coastal city that is not currently served by a bookshop. ‘The Golden Bookshop’, aims to open by Christmas this year.
Speaking about his plans, Haig explained: “My belief, as someone who grew up in a town without a bookshop, is that all communities should have a bookshop, because bookshops save civilisation and make life interesting.
“We won’t be pushing things we don’t want to push, just good books. Curated by me, and people I trust. Mind-bending books. Tearful books. Banned books. Fun books. Graphic novels. Kids’ books. Grown-up books. Really cool music and art books. Books with words. Books that have no words but are really gorgeous to flick through. Books that are actually vinyl records. The best dead and living writers.”
Photo: © Kan Lailey
Haig is not the first author to open a bookshop following in the footsteps of several prominent authors, including: Diary of a Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney’s An Unlikely Story in Plainville, Massachusetts; Ann Patchett’s Parnassus Books in Nashville; George RR Martin’s Beastly Books in Santa Fe; and Kim Nash’s Fiction and Fairylights in Hednesford, UK.
The Golden Bookshop, Brighton will welcome dogs, and offer occasional evening events such as author talks. Haig added that there will be “No stuffy vibes. No genre snobbery. No high/low book classism.”
