Lighthouse - Edinburgh's Radical Bookshop

Scottish Books Events: October 2025 – The Skinny The Scottish International Storytelling Festival turns to the north this year, with a programme of events inspired by Nordic traditions. Elsewhere, there are launches at The Portobello Bookshop,…

The Scottish International Storytelling Festival turns to the north this year, with a programme of events inspired by Nordic traditions. Elsewhere, there are launches at @portybooks.bsky.social, @lighthousebks.bsky.social, and more 📚

The @lighthousebks.bsky.social Radical Book Fair is back in November and we're delighted that @djpaulette.bsky.social will be on a panel exploring music as life - politics, power, creation - with Dave Randall & Adèle Oliver, hosted by JJ Fadaka.

Tickets: lighthousebookshop.com/events/music...

Edinburgh!! I’ll be with @lighthousebks.bsky.social
at the Great Hall on Wednesday October 1st at 7pm for a discussion on Love in a F*cked-Up World with Wu Tsang
and Nat Raha! Come join us ❤️❤️

lighthousebookshop.com/events/love-...

In Edinburgh on October 7 with
@lighthousebks.bsky.social
for anyone up there. There is a lot of commonality between Edinburgh's housing crisis and London's, so I'm looking forward to a good discussion

lighthousebookshop.com/events/homes...

An inspiring & uplifting evening @n-t-s.bsky.social Georgian House with @lighthousebks.bsky.social for the launch of Anthony Delaney’s book Queer Georgians. Good to hear (as a former historian) of the method, sources, rigour - & I loved hearing of histories reclaimed of joy, belonging and community

🎉 Delighted to see that INTERVALS by Marianne Brooker is the 2025 Bread and Roses Award winner! 🎉

A Latinx person with cropped curly hair and olive skin stands in a bookshop holding two books - Pleasure Gardens: Blackouts and the Logic of Crisis in Kashmir by Skye Arundhati Thomas and Izabella Scott (MACK), and Intervals by Marianne Brooker (Fitzcarraldo).

The panel of judges for the 2025 Bread and Roses Award, organised by the ARB and hosted by us are thrilled to announce the 2025 winners: Pleasure Gardens: Blackouts and the Logic of Crisis in Kashmir by Skye Arundhati Thomas and Izabella Scott and Intervals by Marianne Brooker!

Scottish Books Events: September 2025 - The Skinny In the quiet lull after the festivals, there's still plenty of book launches and poetry nights on offer across Scotland this September.

In the quiet lull after the festivals, there's still plenty of book launches and poetry nights on offer across Scotland this September – our round-up involves events at @lighthousebks.bsky.social, @womenslibrary.bsky.social and more 📚

Holding the Line: Gentrification and the Dispossession of the Kirkgate Benches

"For anyone committed to social justice, the saga of the Kirkgate benches is an affront to community diversity and integration. It was a violent act of social cleansing, a silent declaration that some people’s comfort is more valuable than other people’s survival"

www.discontent.wtf/news/holding...

Revealed: Asylum hotel protests dwarfed by runners going to Parkrun Protesters outside asylum hotels over the bank holiday weekend were vastly outnumbered by Parkrun runners, Big Issue analysis found.

“Because organising and mobilising people to take action on a Saturday takes a lot of effort, commitment and passion – just like Parkrun! And our brief investigation shows protesters lagging behind.” www.bigissue.com/news/social-...

Today, and everyday, we reject the far right’s scapegoating & persecution of refugees, migrants and asylum seekers- the continued targeting of people who would make Scotland home.

Nae N*zies in Falkirk, rally today, from 12o’clock.

A little story about radical booksellers……
@housmansbookshop.bsky.social &
@fiveleavesbooks.bsky.social DREAMT up the #LittleRebelsAward RUN BY
@letterboxlibrary.bsky.social & Housmans.

The sibling, adult non-fiction prize 🍞 BREAD & 🌹 ROSES is run by @lighthousebks.bsky.social ➡️

Earlier this month, Ruby Free was hosted by @lighthousebks.bsky.social for @edfringe.bsky.social #bookfringe to another sold out event! She discussed the importance of intersectional #environmentalism and why it’s so important to use your voice in the places & spaces that need it most.

#rathlin

I just picked up Le Guin's essay "The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction" on a whim, as it was at the counter of @lighthousebks.bsky.social.
What a spectacular essay. What an astonishing ability Le Guin had to turn a phrase, to explain an idea, to spark more ideas.
I *strongly* encourage you to read it.

A stack of books, including African Europeans, Friends of Israel, Ciao Ousmane, Afropean and Seven Children, on top of several other books, with an out-of-focus background of colourful bookshelves

2025 shortlisted author @dannydorling.bsky.social shares his recommendations for several of the past shortlisted books, including books by @johnypitts.bsky.social, Olivette Otele, Hsiao-Hung Pai, @kojokoram.bsky.social and Hil Aked.
lighthousebookshop.com/posts/shortl...

On a sunny day, here is a photo of Marijam Did's book Everything to play for, and Florian Grosset's book The Chagos Betrayal, in front of a navy and green wall

2025 shortlisted author @marijamdid.com, author of 'EVERYTHING TO PLAY FOR' shared recommendations for Koshka Duff's 'ABOLISHING THE POLICE' and 'THE CHAGOS BETRAYAL' by Florian Grosset lighthousebookshop.com/posts/shortl...

A copy of Defiance by Janet Alder with Dan Glazebrook, and Divided by Annabel Sowemimo, in front of a colourful bookshelf

Next is a blog post by Janet Alder, author of 2025 shortlisted book 'DEFIANCE', in which she recommends 'ABOLISHING THE POLICE' by Koshka Duff and 'DIVIDED' by Annabel Sowemimo (2024 winner) lighthousebookshop.com/posts/shortl...

The books Pleasure Gardens and Friends of Israel, in front of a green and navy background

First up is a blog post by @izabellascott.bsky.social and Skye Arundhati Thomas, authors of 2025 shortlisted book 'PLEASURE GARDENS', in which they recommend Hil Aked's book 'FRIENDS OF ISRAEL' lighthousebookshop.com/posts/bread-...

We decided to ask the authors of the Bread and Roses Award 2025 shortlist to recommend books from the last five years of shortlists - and we'll be sharing their thoughts with you on our website in the lead-up to the 2025 winner ceremony on 15th September! lighthousebookshop.com/events/bread...

One of our fave festivals is BACK!

Enjoy the post Edinburgh Festivals calm for a beat, and then dive into all the film/activist goodness at TOA Film Fest in Sept!

Lovely to see the very fine @lighthousebks.bsky.social stocking my novel 17 years on!

We're on a podcast!

Talking to the brilliant Lena about queer books & bookselling, Edinburgh's Radical Bookshop history and plugging faves like @junethomas.bsky.social & Nuzha Nuseibeh & @jakehallwrites.bsky.social and much more... have a wee listen!

lenamattheis.wordpress.com/queerlit/

The front cover of a previous edition of Ece Temelkuran's book How to Lose a Country- the Seven Steps from Democracy to Fascism. My edition has the old title- instead of fascism, it says dictatorship. So the cover now has a piece of scrap paper with fascism in red biro, the font mimicking the block white font of the original cover (which is black with white writing). Except I can't find my sticky tape so it's held on with shiny green and red star stickers.

Brilliant talk today by @ecetemelkuran.bsky.social at @lighthousebks.bsky.social

A thread! So, firstly, her editors wimped out of her prefered subtitle - How to Lose a Country should be the 7 steps from democracy to fascism, not dictatorship. I have amended my copy...

Photo of the backs of people sitting watching a person with red hair and a blue T-shirt speak into a mic. Behind the speaker, there's a stone tenement wall on the left and an ivy-clad wall and trees on the right

Spent a fab afternoon at @lighthousebks.bsky.social listening to four poets share their rage and hope

Big thanks to @quill.scot for the Queer Riot!

Man with shoulder-length crimson hair and blue t-shirt with Star Wars rebel symbol on it speaks into a mic in front of a crowd in a garden

Hosting a @quill.scot readings event at @lighthousebks.bsky.social today

✨ TODAY at Edinburgh’s BOOK FRINGE: Big-hearted Storytelling with Vashti Harrison ✨ 1pm | In-person & online

Join award-winning creator of the Little Leaders series & bestselling book BIG @vashtiharrison.bsky.social for a heartwarming session all about stories, illustration, and the power of art.

Introducing Jommo Calley who will be reading their work for those lucky enough to be coming to our QUEER Riot literary cabaret event in just 4 days! 🤯 See you on Sun 24 @lighthousebks.bsky.social

Jommo is a Malawian/Scottish poet exploring the intersectionality of identity, inequality & injustice.

Sol Vardi is reading at our Queer RIOT event happening this Sun 24 Aug, 1pm @lighthousebks.bsky.social!

Sol is a writer & spoken word poet who explores queer & immigrant experiences. Their poetry weaves political issues, humour & queer joy, alongside everyday experiences of life in Edinburgh.

Grab a pal and come along to our Queer RIOT event @lighthousebks.bsky.social this Sun 24 Aug, 1pm, to hear Nyla Noor read their work!🌈

Nyla is a queer South Asian artist weaving storytelling, poetry, and visual arts into deep explorations of queerness, intergenerational trauma, and radical healing.

Free, In person & online join us whether you're doing Fringe in Edinburgh or taking your lunchbreak in Barcelona!

lighthousebookshop.com/events/i-wil...