Simon Mason with Russ Thomas: The Woman Who Laughed

June 25 @ 6:00 PM 8:00 PM

Free

At La Biblioteka

June 25 @ 6:00 PM 8:00 PM BST

Join us for an evening with acclaimed author Simon Mason, in conversation with Sheffield’s own Russ Thomas, as they delve into Simon’s gripping new novel—a haunting crime story set in the aftermath of the 2020 lockdowns. When the bag of a murdered sex worker reappears five years after her disappearance, old wounds are reopened and new questions arise. With themes of justice, memory, and the unseen lives in our cities, this promises to be a powerful and thought-provoking event.

About the book:

In the first months of 2020, there was a spate of murders of Black sex workers in northern cities. One of them was Ella Bailey, last seen talking to a punter in an alley in Sheffield city centre, and although no trace of her was ever found, the punter, Michael Godley, soon confessed to all three murders. Five years later, as another sex worker is murdered in the same district, the bag Ella had been carrying with her reappears, hanging on the door handles of a café, and a local vagrant claims to have seen Ella sitting on a bench in a churchyard near the site of the murder.

South Yorkshire Police call in the Finder. So begins a search that takes him back to the strange days of the pandemic, to talk to those who knew Ella best, such as her wayward girlfriend ‘Loz’, abusive boyfriend Caine Poynton-Smith and respectable foster-parents still struggling to come to terms with Ella’s life. How did their intelligent, strong-willed daughter, a bright student and national schoolgirl athletics champion, end up in that alley?

As fear grips the city, our Finder must court danger to discover the truth.

About the author:

Simon Mason has pursued parallel careers as a publisher and an author, whose YA crime novels Running Girl, Kid Got Shot and Hey, Sherlock! feature the sixteen-year-old slacker genius Garvie Smith. A former Managing Director of David Fickling Books, where he worked with many wonderful writers, including Philip Pullman, he has also taught at Oxford Brookes University and has been a Royal Literary Fund Fellow at Exeter College, Oxford.

Location:

Sports Banger: Lifestyles of the poor, rich and famous’ Book Tour

Free

9 November 2023 @ 6:30 PM 11:00 PM GMT

We’re honoured to be supporting the Sheffield leg of @sportsbanger ‘Lifestyles of the poor, rich and famous’ book tour, on the 9th of Nov.

The book tells the story of the brand’s evolution from a bootlegging operation back in 2013, to an internationally renowned DIY fashion powerhouse and record label.

Daniel Dylan Wray will host a talk with the man behind Sports Banger, Jonny Banger. We’ve also invited some of Sheffield’s finest DJs to play the afters.

About the book:

The first Sports Banger retrospective, published to celebrate the ten-year anniversary of the anarchic, genre-bending cult fashion house.

Sports Banger is a genre-defying, boundary-breaking fashion collective run by Jonny Banger, who interrogates British pop culture, fashion, class and politics through the subversion and (mis)appropriation of branding. Sports Banger: Lifestyles of the Poor, Rich and Famous tells the story of the first ten years of the irreverent brand, from its foundation in 2013 to the present day. It charts the rise of the brand from an underground bootlegging operation to an all-inclusive, internationally recognized DIY fashion house, record label and socially conscious satirist in the mould of a modern-day Hogarth.

In a layout created by the Sports Banger studio, the book’s images reflect the anarchic story: photographs of studio ephemera, couture pieces, community projects, protests and fashion shows feature alongside one-off pieces produced for Skepta, 2 Chainz, Samantha Morton, David Hoyle and more. The book contains a full t-shirt archive of iconic Sports Banger bootleg t-shirts. Reappropriated Nike, NHS and Adidas logos rub shoulders with images of defaced government letters, raves, food banks and official collaborations with Tommy Hilfiger and Slazenger. The book is an of-our-times hybrid of political comment, DIY fashion and proud class consciousness. Essays featured come from influential figures from the worlds of fashion, art and music, including Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller, writer and curator Anastasiia Fedorova, and fashion writer and curator Nathalie Khan as well as voices of the general public and reviews from Vogue, Dazed and the V&A.

Mondo Radio

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Mondo Club

7 Smithfield
Sheffield, S3 7AR United Kingdom
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The Dolphin by Susan Clegg

1 July 2023 @ 6:30 PM 8:00 PM BST

‘He knew that this was as close to the sea as he could ever get.’

Join us at La Biblioteka as we welcome local author Susan Clegg and feminist publisher Linen Press to celebrate the publication of The Dolphin.

In 1937 Larry Lambert has a vision of a magnificent pub built on frozen fields ‘like a grassy sea’. It is an echo of a single, failed, gay encounter in a fishing boat, and in its construction he invests his energy and his thwarted dreams. He calls it The Dolphin.

And so unfolds a moving exploration of the constraining expectations of society on three generations of one family. For Larry, there is the cruel impossibility of being gay in 1930s Britain and his ensuing loveless marriage with the embittered Rosemary. For his daughter, Joanie, there is the crushing weight of duty and respectability during the post-war years. Only granddaughter Lottie pulls free and finds the freedom her grandfather and mother were denied.

Larry’s decision to build The Dolphin sparks events that play out over decades, tearing one generation apart while bringing another back together.

With artfully simple prose, Susan Clegg invites you to look beyond the surface. Insightful, understated and finely observed.

See more about the book, and pre-order a signed & dedicated copy, click here:
https://labiblioteka.co/product/the-dolphin/

Free

La Biblioteka

07522010803

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Mondo Club

7 Smithfield
Sheffield, S3 7AR United Kingdom
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Discovering Machine Knitting by Kandy Diamond

3 June 2023 @ 4:00 PM 6:00 PM BST

Join us as we welcome Kandy Diamond and her knitting machine for a live demo and hands-on mini-workshop to launch her new book Discovering Machine Knitting (The Crowood Press Ltd).

Come and try out machine knitting for yourself, and make yourself a knitted bookmark to take home!

This is the ultimate guide to machine knitting. This book has been designed to help you demystify machine knitting. Perfect for beginners, it starts with how the machine works and how stitches are formed, all the way through to shaping garment panels to your desired size and fit.

Each chapter focuses on different skills that build throughout the book, with lots of projects so you can put the skills into practice and make some knits for yourself. Designer Profiles at the end of each chapter showcase the work of professional machine knitters to provide context, inspiration and celebrate the huge potential for creativity in machine knitting. From troubleshooting and looking after the machine to using more advanced techniques such as intarsia and shaping, this book will help you fall in love with your knitting machine.

If you work through the step-by-step instructions and projects in this book, by the end of it you will be designing and knitting your own garments!

Free

Mondo Club

7 Smithfield
Sheffield, S3 7AR United Kingdom
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My Name Is Why by Lemn Sissay

18 June 2022 @ 8:00 PM 10:30 PM BST

Part historical, part political but most of all – hugely inspirational.

Acclaimed British author Lemn Sissay OBE – a BAFTA-nominated, International prize-winning writer, poet, playwright and broadcaster – will keep the audience enthralled with this scoop of an event for Sheffield and Migration Matters Festival.

He will share his rollercoaster life story and read powerful extracts from his Sunday Times best-selling memoir, My Name is Why.

The book reflects on his childhood in care, self-expression and Britishness, and in doing so, exploring the institutional care system, race, family and the meaning of home.

This event will also feature a set by Sarah Orola

The Land of Many Waters flows through me. My words transcend boundaries and give voice to a nation. Born in Ireland to parents of Nigerian and Guyanese descent has given me a beautiful yet complex insight into my diverse world.

My journey of self-awareness is heavily reflected in my poetry. Scribbling my thoughts on paper and bringing those words alive has helped me explore my afro-caribbean identity to share with others.

£12 / £10 (conc.) / £3 (stream) / Free

Migrstion Matters Festival

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Mondo Club

7 Smithfield
Sheffield, S3 7AR United Kingdom
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