Follow links to events run by Arachne Press or featuring our writers.

24th June 2021 – Launch of Accidental Flowers by Lily Peters

Join author Lily Peters for readings and discussion of her debut novel-in-short-stories, Accidental Flowers, set mainly in Newcastle in the near future, when sea levels are rising and there is a choice: live safe in giant towers, or live gree on the city’s allotments.

The book is part of Arachne Press’ foray into audiobooks, and we hope some of the narrators will join us for the readings.

Tickets are free, or £10 with a copy of the book. Tickets available here.

Past Events (with videos or audio):

May 30th, 31st and June 1st, 2nd and 3rd 2021 – Brockley Max Online

This year we are running THREE events at this brilliant community arts festival, as well as hosting an evening of readings by Writers of our Age (WooA). All events can be booked through Eventbrite (see individual links below).

June 3rd, 19:30 – WooA – Back in the Water

Join Writers of our Age (WOOA), a well established, published mix of local writers, for readings of specially written stories under the heading ‘Back in the Water’.

You can get tickets here, free.

June 2nd, 19:00 BST – Imagined Spaces – A Writer’s Approach to Place

Join authors and ex-Brockley residents, Lily Peters and Jackie Taylor for readings and discussion around the use of ‘place’ in their forthcoming titles with Arachne, Accidental Flowers (Lily) and Strange Waters (Jackie).

You can get tickets here, free; or for £9.99 to include a copy of ONE of the books.

May 31st, 19:00 BST – Short, Flash, Poem?

Join Arachne authors Laura Besley (100neHundred), David Hartley (Incorcisms) and poet Rob Walton (This Poem Here) for an evening of readings and discussions dealing with issues around their chosen literary forms and touching on questions such as, do authors know what a piece will be when they start writing it? When is flash a prose poem? Do poems sometimes change into stories? How dark does fantasy have to be to qualify as horror, and is it allowed to be funny?

You can get tickets here, free; or for £8.99 to include a copy of ONE of the books.

May 30th, 16:00 BST – Keeping Up With a Paper and Pencil

Catch Clare Owen, author of our recent YA novel, Zed and the Cormorants, in conversation with Sally Atkins, who did the beautiful illustrations for Clare’s book. Entitled Keeping Up With a Paper and Pencil, Clare and Sally will discuss creating vivid characters through words and images – so one for both writers and artists. They’ll share their notebooks, sketches, extracts from the novel and new ways to get characters up on their feet and ready to sprint off the page.

You can get tickets here, free; or for £10 to include a copy of the book.

May 27th 2021

Launch of Incorcisms by David Hartley, and 100neHundred by Laura Besley.

You can get tickets here, free; or for £8.99 to include a copy of ONE of the books; or for £17.98 to include a copy of BOTH books. Books will be sent post free.

The evening will include readings by, and chats with, Laura and David, and they will also be joined by the narrators of their respective audiobooks. Also, THERE WILL BE CAKE (BYO): we’d like you to join us in celebrating the launch by baking (or buying) cake to eat during the event, and drinking lemonade (the reason behind lemonade drinking will be made clear on the night!).

There will be Q&A opportunities throughout the event, and even a chance to write your own 100 word story. So put your thinking caps on, and start making a note of all those burning questions about flash/short story/micro fiction or anything else you may wish to know about these writers and their work. And dust off those notebooks and pens.

You can also (pre-)order the books now from our Webshop.

May 9th 2021, 11:00 BST – Local Author Virtual Premier for Zed and the Cormorants

If you missed our virtual launch last month, Cornwall Libraries will be hosting this premier, featuring author Clare Owen answering customer questions, and reading from the novel.

If you can’t catch it on Sunday, you can re-watch it on the Arachne Press YouTube channel .

April 29th 2021

Launch of Zed and the Cormorants.

After having to delay publication last year, Zed and the Cormorants was published last month, and was launched with a fantastic, sold-out event online. The evening included readings by Clare herself, hosted by the lovely Shrew Books in Fowey, Cornwall, as well as by actress Sophie Aldred, who has narrated the audiobook; discussion with Sally Atkins, who did the wonderful illustrations for the book; and questions from the audience.

April 24th 2021

Launch of blog tour for Zed and the Cormorants @a_never_ending_story.

The week of the launch saw an exciting blog tour, including book blogger reviews of Zed, guest posts by Clare, extracts from the book and audiobook, and a Zed-themed #bookishbake. Check out all the coverage here .

For more blog tour dates and details, see below.

April 24th – May 2nd 2021

Blog tour for Zed and the Cormorants