Ruth Ozeki Tours UK for Independent Book Sellers Week, July 2013

Ruth Ozeki will return to the UK for Independent Booksellers Week in July 2013, for a tour of independent bookshops around the country.

Ruth is shortlisted for the Independent Booksellers Week Book Award 2013, the winner of which will be announced on June 28th - the day before the tour launches. The IBW Book Award is unique amongst book prizes as it is the only award chosen by independent booksellers in the UK.

Ruth is also one of only five writers to be chosen by the Independent Alliance for a limited edition Written Word poster, forindependent bookshops to sell exclusively during IBW. Each author was asked to hand write a section of their work, which has been reproduced as an A4-sized print. The other writers are Yann Martel, Mark Forsythe, Robert Macfarlane and SimonArmitage. Each author will individually sign 200 copies of their print.

Ruth's latest novel, A Tale for the Time Being, was published in March to widespread critical acclaim. The way in which it was published also received attention, both for the simultaneous hardback and paperback publication, and the interactive 'blippable' paperback cover. The high production values on the hardback, including open-spine binding and a peelable sticker, helped make the book a hit in independent shops.

The tour will run as follows:

29th June: Dulwich Books, South London

1st July: Lutyens & Rubinstein Bookshop, West London

2nd July: Mr B's Emporium of Reading Delights, Bath

3rd July: Jaffé & Neale Bookshop, Chipping Norton

4th July: Looking Glass Books, Edinburgh

5th July: Mainstreet Trading, Scottish Borders

Ruth comments, "Independent bookshops are the keystone species of our cultural ecosystem. When they are endangered, the rest of our species is imperiled as well. When they flourish, so do we all. Luckily, we know this somehow. Independent booksellers are an adaptable and resilient lot, and readers and writers are loyal and stubborn, and together we form a strong relationship of symbiotic mutualism. I am forever indebted to the independent booksellers who have supported my work and enabled me, a tiny organism in this vast cultural ecology, to write and thrive."

EVENT DETAILS

6.30pm, 29th June: DULWICH BOOKS

6 Croxted Road, West Dulwich, London, SE21 8SW (0208 670 1920)

Tickets £5, including wine and a £2 discount on the book

6.30pm, 1st July: LUTYENS & RUBINSTEIN BOOKSHOP - with Matt Haig

21 Kensington Park Road, London, W11 2EU (0207 2291010)

Tickets £8, including a free glass of wine.

7pm, 2nd July: MR B'S EMPORIUM OF READING DELIGHTS

14/15 John Street, Bath, BA1 2JL (01225331155)

Tickets £14 or £25 for 2, including music from The Bookshop Band, buffet dinner and 15% off all books purchased on the night.

6.30pm, 3rd July: JAFFE & NEALE BOOKSHOP - J&N bookclub event

1 Middle Row, Chipping Norton, OX7 5NH (01608 641033)

Free event, though booking in advance is recommended.

7pm, 4th July: LOOKING GLASS BOOKS

36 Simpson Loan, Quartermile, Edinburgh, EH3 9GG (0131 229 2902)

Tickets £5, including a glass of wine and 15% off the book.

5th July: THE MAIN STREET TRADING COMPAN

Main Street, St Boswells, Scottish Borders, TD6 0AT (01835 824 087)

Ruth Ozeki is an award-winning novelist and filmmaker. She is the author of My Year of Meats(1998) and All Over Creation (2002). Ozeki was born and raised in Connecticut, by an American father and Japanese mother. In June 2010 she was ordained as a Zen Buddhist priest. She divides her time between British Columbia and New York. (www.ruthozeki.com / @ozekiland)

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