Events
Scroll through below and keep checking back or via our social media feeds for updates and new things. You could also sign up for our mailing list and we will mail you (not too often) with updates and news.
We have other New Writers events and shopping evenings planned so do follow us on social media so you don't miss anything.
See all events on Eventbrite
Our Upcoming Events
MAY 2024
Book Club - A Room With A View by E.M. Forster
7th and 9th May @ 19:00
Widely recognized as one of the finest novels of the twentieth century, A Room with a View begins in Florence, Italy, where Miss Lucy Honeychurch, who is chaperoned by her spinster cousin Miss Charlotte Bartlett, arrives at the Pensione Bertolini to find that instead of rooms with a view of the Arno, as promised, theirs face a drab courtyard. Another guest spontaneously offers to swap the rooms that he and his son have to remedy their distress.
Thus ensues an unlikely series of unforeseen events that upend the lives of the eccentric cast of characters who vividly animate this enduring and delightful tale.
Do you love books? Want to get out of your reading rut and be introduced to new and exciting authors? Fancy meeting up with like-minded souls to talk about books for a couple of hours?
Then come along to our friendly local Book Group and meet others who share your passion for all things literary. We're a relaxed lot, so it doesn't matter whether you devoured the book in one sitting or gave up after two pages
Just come and tell us what you thought, and hear what others made of it too. All opinions welcome - we start with the book, but the discussion can end up anywhere.
Tickets are £5 plus a booking fee. If you wish to avoid online booking fees, please book in the shop.
Author Event - Rory Waterman Poetry Evening with Open Mic
Monday 13th May at 19.30
Come along and try something new at Kemps! We’re over the moon to welcome our guest reader Rory Waterman, with the added bonus of a poetry open mic (sign up on the night or). Come prepared with some of your own writing or simply sit and enjoy listening.
Rory is a poet with three collections published by Carcanet Press; a fourth, Come Here to this Gate, is forthcoming in April. He is also a literary critic for the TLS, PN Review and other publications, co-editor of New Walk Editions, and an academic.
In his latest collection Rory, focuses variously on caring for an alcoholic father with dementia, the personal and global conflicts that shape our lives, and what happens when imps, ghosts and boggarts have to reckon with the modern world.
£5 per ticket. Unreserved seating. Book instore or online. Online bookings may be subject to booking fee.
Cooking The Books - The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai
16th May @ 19:00 at The Cook's Place, Malton
Down a quiet backstreet in Kyoto exists a very special restaurant. Run by Koishi Kamogawa and her father Nagare, the father-daughter duo have started advertising their services as 'food detectives'. Through ingenious investigations, they are capable of recreating a dish from their customers' pasts – dishes that may well hold the keys to unlocking forgotten memories and future happiness.
We have teamed up with Malton's celebrated cookery school, The Cook's Place to give you a monthly book club with a difference! Each month Jo Hardy from Kemps selects a book that has a foodie vibe and while Jo discusses and reviews the book and opens the discussion, Gilly Robinson, owner and head tutor here at The Cooks Place, will then create two dishes mentioned in the text. Relax and enjoy as Gilly cooks and demonstrates how to make the dishes, which you eat along with a glass of something.
Cooking the Books is a great way to bring your love of books and cooking together. A wonderful night out for a group of book lovers or even on your own, to chat, eat and just a great excuse to read a book! A friendly, welcoming atmosphere awaits.
JUNE 2024
Book Club - The Flow by Amy-Jane Beer
4th and 6th June @ 19:00
WINNER OF THE 2023 JAMES CROPPER WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR NATURE WRITING
The Flow is a book about water that meanders, cascades and percolates through many lives, landscapes and stories. From West Country torrents to Levels and Fens, rocky Welsh canyons, the salmon highways of Scotland and the chalk rivers of the Yorkshire Wolds, Amy-Jane follows springs, streams and rivers to explore tributary themes of wildness and wonder, loss and healing, mythology and history, cyclicity and transformation. Threading together places and voices from across Britain, The Flow is a profound, immersive exploration of our personal and ecological place in nature.
Do you love books? Want to get out of your reading rut and be introduced to new and exciting authors? Fancy meeting up with like-minded souls to talk about books for a couple of hours?
Then come along to our friendly local Book Group and meet others who share your passion for all things literary. We're a relaxed lot, so it doesn't matter whether you devoured the book in one sitting or gave up after two pages
Just come and tell us what you thought, and hear what others made of it too. All opinions welcome - we start with the book, but the discussion can end up anywhere.
Tickets are £5 plus an online booking fee. If you wish to avoid online booking fees, please book in the shop.
Treat Your Shelf - Cindy talks about Emily Henry Books
Saturday 8th June at 19.30
Before you pick up Emily Henry's newest book, Funny Story, Treat Your Shelf (and yourself) to Book Lovers, a steamy summer read set in a small-town bookshop. For fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid and Rebecca Serle, join Cindy for a relaxed discussion, and take the guilt out of guilty pleasure!
Nora is a cut-throat literary agent at the top of her game. Her whole life is books. Charlie is an editor with a gift for creating bestsellers. And he's Nora's work nemesis. Nora has been through enough break-ups to know she's the one men date before finding their happy-ever-after. To prevent another dating dud, Nora's sister has persuaded her to swap her city desk for a month's holiday in Sunshine Falls. It's a small town straight out of a romance novel, but instead of meeting sexy lumberjacks, handsome doctors or cute bartenders, Nora keeps bumping into... Charlie. She's no heroine. He's no hero.
So, can they take a page out of an entirely different book? Emily Henry's Book Lovers is brimming with witty banter, characters you can't help but fall for, and off-the-charts chemistry.
Unreserved seating at the Bookshop. Tickets are £5 plus an online booking fee. If you wish to avoid online booking fees, please book in the shop.
Cooking The Books - Fatty Fatty Boom Boom by Rabia Chaudry
13th June @ 19:00 at The Cook's Place, Malton
Rabia Chaudry was raised with a lot of love. And that love looked like food.
Delicious Pakistani dishes-fresh roti, chaat, pakoras, and shorba-and also Pizza Hut, Dairy Queen, and an abundance of American processed foods, as her family discovered its adopted country through its (fast) food. In Fatty Fatty Boom Boom, Chaudry chronicles the dozens of times she tried and failed to achieve what she was told was her ideal weight. The truth is, she always loved food too much to hold a grudge against it.
We have teamed up with Malton's celebrated cookery school, The Cook's Place to give you a monthly book club with a difference! Each month Jo Hardy from Kemps selects a book that has a foodie vibe and while Jo discusses and reviews the book and opens the discussion, Gilly Robinson, owner and head tutor here at The Cooks Place, will then create two dishes mentioned in the text. Relax and enjoy as Gilly cooks and demonstrates how to make the dishes, which you eat along with a glass of something.
Cooking the Books is a great way to bring your love of books and cooking together. A wonderful night out for a group of book lovers or even on your own, to chat, eat and just a great excuse to read a book! A friendly, welcoming atmosphere awaits.
JULY 2024
Book Club - Yellowface by R. F. Kuang
2nd and 4th July @ 19:00
White Lies. Dark Humour. Deadly Consequences. Athena Liu is a literary darling and June Hayward is literally nobody. When Athena dies in a freak accident, June steals her unpublished manuscript and publishes it as her own under the ambiguous name Juniper Song. But as evidence threatens June’s stolen success, she will discover exactly how far she will go to keep what she thinks she deserves.
What happens next is entirely everyone else’s fault.
Do you love books? Want to get out of your reading rut and be introduced to new and exciting authors? Fancy meeting up with like-minded souls to talk about books for a couple of hours?
Then come along to our friendly local Book Group and meet others who share your passion for all things literary. We're a relaxed lot, so it doesn't matter whether you devoured the book in one sitting or gave up after two pages
Just come and tell us what you thought, and hear what others made of it too. All opinions welcome - we start with the book, but the discussion can end up anywhere.
Tickets are £5 plus an online booking fee. If you wish to avoid online booking fees, please book in the shop.
Malton Roman Festival 2024 - Kemps Books Pop-Up Shop
Sunday 21st July from 10am at Orchard Fields, Malton
Cooking The Books - The Waiter by Matias Faldbakken
11th July @ 19:00 at The Cook's Place, Malton
Welcome to The Hills, Oslo's most esteemed restaurant, an institution stewed in tradition and clinging to the faded grandeur of old Europe.
A neurotic waiter tends to the desires of his clientele. Aristocrats and artistes, wealthy widows and roguish entrepreneurs, he observes all their dramas with a wit as sharp as a filleting knife.
At table ten sits the impeccable Mr Graham, impatiently awaiting a special guest. When at last she arrives - young, beautiful, mysterious - she will prove to be a challenging new flavour, threatening both our waiter's nerves, and the delicately balanced ingredients of the room.
We have teamed up with Malton's celebrated cookery school, The Cook's Place to give you a monthly book club with a difference! Each month Jo Hardy from Kemps selects a book that has a foodie vibe and while Jo discusses and reviews the book and opens the discussion, Gilly Robinson, owner and head tutor here at The Cooks Place, will then create two dishes mentioned in the text. Relax and enjoy as Gilly cooks and demonstrates how to make the dishes, which you eat along with a glass of something.
Cooking the Books is a great way to bring your love of books and cooking together. A wonderful night out for a group of book lovers or even on your own, to chat, eat and just a great excuse to read a book! A friendly, welcoming atmosphere awaits.
Author Event - Ian Moore - Vive le Chaos
Wednesday 17th July at 19.30
Best-selling author and comedian, Ian Moore’s ‘Death & Croissants’ and the follow-ups in the cosy mystery series ‘Death & Fromage’ and ‘Death at the Chateau’ have proved hugely popular with Kemps customers. A big personality – Ian is great fun and often pops in to the shop for a chat when he is on tour. We thought it was time we grabbed him for a proper event.
He has appeared on BBC 2’s Richard Osman’s House of Games, and won many plaudits for his performance in the last series of BBC Radio 4’s long-running The Now Show. He is also a columnist and podcaster and the author of best-selling memoirs, ‘A la Mod: My So-Called Tranquil Family Life in Rural France’, and the follow up, ‘C’est Modnifique!: Adventures of an English Grump in Rural France’. À la Mod which are now being reissued as ‘Vive le Chaos’. The latest Follett Valley Mystery ‘Death in le Jardin’ is newly published too – so plenty to talk about.
Francophiles and fans of cosy crime this is must see event for you. Come and join us what we are sure will be a highly entertaining evening.
Tickets £7.50
Book & Ticket £12 (including ‘Vive le Chaos’ book (RRP £9.99)
Book in store or online (booking fee may apply when booking online)
Unreserved seating. Book instore or online. Online bookings may be subject to booking fee.
AUGUST 2024
Book Club - Leonard and Hungry Paul
Tuesday 6th and Thursday 8th August @ 19:00
This is the story of two friends who ordinarily would remain uncelebrated. It finds a value and specialness in them that is not immediately apparent and prompts the idea that maybe we could learn from the people that we overlook in life. Leonard and Hungry Paul change the world differently to the rest of us: we try and change it by effort and force; they change it by discovering the small things they can do well and offering them to others.
Do you love books? Want to get out of your reading rut and be introduced to new and exciting authors? Fancy meeting up with like-minded souls to talk about books for a couple of hours?
Then come along to our friendly local Book Group and meet others who share your passion for all things literary. We're a relaxed lot, so it doesn't matter whether you devoured the book in one sitting or gave up after two pages
Just come and tell us what you thought, and hear what others made of it too. All opinions welcome - we start with the book, but the discussion can end up anywhere.
Tickets are £5 plus an online booking fee. If you wish to avoid online booking fees, please book in the shop.
Cooking The Books - Eating Up Italy by Matthew Fort
15th August @ 19:00 at The Cook's Place, Malton
Italy’s tumultuous history can be traced through its food. In an epic scooter trip from the Ionian Sea to the far north, distinguished food writer Matthew Fort explores the local gastronomy and culinary culture of a country where regional differences are vibrantly alive. His plan is a simple one: to travel by scooter from Melito di Porto Salvo – the southernmost town in Italy and where Garibaldi landed in 1860 to begin his conquest of Naples – to Turin in the north, eating, drinking, talking and noting as he goes.
SEPTEMBER 2024
Book Club - Sea of Tranquility
Tuesday 3rd and Thursday 5th September @ 19:00
Lives separated by time and space have collided, and an exiled Englishman, a writer trapped far from home, and a girl destined to die too young, have each glimpsed a world that is not their own. Travelling through the centuries, between colonies on the moon and an ever-changing Earth, together their lives will solve a mystery that will make you question everything you thought you knew to be true.
Do you love books? Want to get out of your reading rut and be introduced to new and exciting authors? Fancy meeting up with like-minded souls to talk about books for a couple of hours?
Then come along to our friendly local Book Group and meet others who share your passion for all things literary. We're a relaxed lot, so it doesn't matter whether you devoured the book in one sitting or gave up after two pages
Just come and tell us what you thought, and hear what others made of it too. All opinions welcome - we start with the book, but the discussion can end up anywhere.
Author Event - Kate Foster - The King's Witches
Wednesday 11th September at 19.30
Kate has been a journalist for over twenty years, she grew up in Edinburgh where she became fascinated by its history and often uses it as inspiration for her writing. The Maiden won the Bloody Scotland Pitch Perfect 2020 prize and has been longlisted for the 2024 Women’s Prize for Fiction.
Join Alex, Kemp's self-professed lover of all things witchy and lover of historical fiction, as she chats to Kate, bestselling author of The Maiden, about her latest book The King’s Witches.
The King’s Witches tells the story of Princess Anna of Denmark, a young woman betrothed to King James VI of Scotland. Before they can wed, Anna must pass a trial period, determined to fulfil her duties Anna resolves to be the perfect royal bride. That is until she meets the handsome Lord Henry. Meanwhile, in North Berwick, young housemaid Jura practises the healing charms taught to her by her mother, but when she realises she is no longer safe, she flees to Edinburgh, only to find herself caught up in the witchcraft fervour that has gripped not just the capital, but the new queen too…
This event will be perfect for lovers of historical fiction, particularly those who delight in the sub-genre of ‘witch lit’. Join us for an evening of sparkling conversation discussing Kate’s books.
£7 per ticket.
£16.99 for a special 'Book and Free Ticket' offer
Unreserved seating. Book instore or online. Online bookings may be subject to booking fee.
Author Event - Annie Garthwaite - The King's Mother
Thursday 19th September at 19.30 at The Wesley Centre, Malton
There can only be one King. Only one King’s Mother
We’re delighted to welcome Annie Garthwaite, author of the hotly anticipated The King’s Mother.
With energy and ambition this novel takes us from the Wars of the Roses to the dawn of the Tudor age – and tells the story of those era-defining wars through the eyes of four women who shaped and suffered them.
- Cecily Neville – King’s Mother
- Marguerite of Anjou – deposed Queen
- Elizabeth Woodville – betrayed wife
- Margaret Beaufort – mother to an exiled son
The evening will end with an opportunity for questions and a book signing.
Our new venue is Malton's newest event space, the beautifully refurbished Wesley Centre in Saville Street, Malton.
£12 per ticket.
£20 for a special 'Book and Ticket' offer
Unreserved seating. Book instore or online. Online bookings may be subject to booking fee.
Cooking The Books - World Travel by Antony Bourdain
12th September @ 19:00 at The Cook's Place, Malton
Anthony Bourdain saw more of the world than nearly anyone. His travels took him from his hometown of New York to a tribal longhouse in Borneo, from cosmopolitan Buenos Aires, Paris, and Shanghai to the stunning desert solitude of Oman's Empty Quarter - and many places beyond.
In World Travel, a life of experience is collected into an entertaining, practical, fun and frank travel guide that gives readers an introduction to some of his favorite places - in his own words. Featuring essential advice on how to get there, what to eat, where to stay and, in some cases, what to avoid.
We have teamed up with Malton's celebrated cookery school, The Cook's Place to give you a monthly book club with a difference! Each month Jo Hardy from Kemps selects a book that has a foodie vibe and while Jo discusses and reviews the book and opens the discussion, Gilly Robinson, owner and head tutor here at The Cooks Place, will then create two dishes mentioned in the text. Relax and enjoy as Gilly cooks and demonstrates how to make the dishes, which you eat along with a glass of something.
Cooking the Books is a great way to bring your love of books and cooking together. A wonderful night out for a group of book lovers or even on your own, to chat, eat and just a great excuse to read a book! A friendly, welcoming atmosphere awaits.
OCTOBER 2024
Book Club - Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow
1st and 3rd October @ 19.00
This is the story of Sam and Sadie. It's not a romance, but it is about love. When Sam catches sight of Sadie, he is catapulted back to the hours they spent immersed in playing games as children. This meeting sets off a creative collaboration and sparks a decades-long tale of friendship and rivalry, fame and art, betrayal and tragedy, perfect worlds and imperfect ones. And, above all, our need to connect: to be loved and to love.
Do you love books? Want to get out of your reading rut and be introduced to new and exciting authors? Fancy meeting up with like-minded souls to talk about books for a couple of hours?
Then come along to our friendly local Book Group and meet others who share your passion for all things literary. We're a relaxed lot, so it doesn't matter whether you devoured the book in one sitting or gave up after two pages
Just come and tell us what you thought, and hear what others made of it too. All opinions welcome - we start with the book, but the discussion can end up anywhere.
Tickets are £5 plus a booking fee. If you wish to avoid online booking fees, please book in the shop.
Cooking The Books - Love and Saffron by Kim Fay
10th October @ 19:00 at The Cook's Place, Malton
Young Joan is just discovering herself as a food writer in bustling Los Angeles, while experienced magazine columnist Imogen is settled in her decades-long marriage on Camano Island outside Seattle. When Joan sends a fan letter to Imogen, their journey of culinary exploration and life-changing friendship begins.
A long-lost flavour unearths buried memories, a quest to make carne asada opens the doors of a sheltered life, and the two women build a closeness that sustains them through the unexpected changes in their own worlds.
Author Event - Victoria Hislop - The Figurine
Wednesday 16th October at 19.00 at The Wesley Centre, Malton
Join us for a very special evening in conversation with novelist Victoria Hislop. Victoria wrote The Island in 2005, inspired by a visit to Spinalonga, the abandoned Greek leper colony. In her new book The Figurine she returns to Greece.
This event promises to be a fascinating evening, perfect for all fans of Victoria’s novels and for all those Hellenophiles out there, bringing some Mediterranean warmth and sunshine to the gloomy British autumn.
The event will be held in the recently refurbished Wesley Centre on Savile Street, Malton, YO17 7LL
£12 per ticket.
£25.00 for a special 'Book and Free Ticket' offer (Book RRP £25.00)
Unreserved seating. Doors open at 6.30pm. Book instore or online. Online bookings may be subject to booking fee.
Alison Weir - Ghosts and Gruesome Tales of the Tower
17th October @ 19:30 at The Milton Rooms, Malton
Given all the bloody deeds, violent death and intrigues that the Tower of London has witnessed in its 900-year history, there is little wonder that it has the reputation of being one of the most haunted places in Britain. Royal and high-ranking prisoners have been beheaded on Tower Green, there have been hundreds of executions on Tower Hill, and many parts of the fortress have served as prisons, places of misery and suffering for those who fell foul of the law. If any place could lay claim to a host of tortured souls and ghosts, it would be the Tower. Alison Weir talks about some of the grim events it has witnessed, and the ghosts that reputedly haunt it.
We are thrilled to welcome back Alison Weir – the UK’s most popular and bestselling female historian to Malton to talk about tell us some ghostly tales from The Tower. Perfect for this time of year - why not come for a ghostly evening.
After the performance Alison will take your questions and sign copies of her books.
“I'm delighted to be speaking in Malton, a town that holds happy family memories for me.” Alison Weir
NOTE: THEMES AND IMAGES MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR UNDER 15s
NOVEMBER 2024
Book Club - Love by Roddy Doyle
Tuesday 5th and Thursday 7th November @ 19:00
One summer's evening, two men meet up in a Dublin restaurant. Old friends, now married and with grown-up children, their lives have taken seemingly similar paths. But Joe has a secret he has to tell Davy, and Davy a grief he wants to keep from Joe. Both are not the men they used to be.
As two pints turns to three, then five, Davy and Joe set out to revisit the haunts of their youth. With the ghosts of Dublin entwining around them - the pubs, the parties, the broken hearts and bungled affairs - the men find themselves face-to-face with the realities of friendship.
Do you love books? Want to get out of your reading rut and be introduced to new and exciting authors? Fancy meeting up with like-minded souls to talk about books for a couple of hours?
Then come along to our friendly local Book Group and meet others who share your passion for all things literary. We're a relaxed lot, so it doesn't matter whether you devoured the book in one sitting or gave up after two pages
Just come and tell us what you thought, and hear what others made of it too. All opinions welcome - we start with the book, but the discussion can end up anywhere.
Tickets are £5 plus a booking fee. If you wish to avoid online booking fees, please book in the shop.
Cooking The Books - Risotto with Nettles by Anna del Conte
14th November @ 19:00 at The Cook's Place, Malton
Born in Milan, Anna del Conte grew up in Italy in a gentler time, but when war came to Italy everything changed. Her story is informed and enlivened by the food and memories of her native land - from lemon granita to wartime risotto with nettles, from vitello tonnato to horsemeat roll, from pastas to porcini.
Anna arrived in England in 1949 to a culinary wasteland. She married an Englishman and wrote books which inspired a new generation of cooks. This is a memoir of a life seen through food - each chapter rounded off with mouthwatering recipes.
We have teamed up with Malton's celebrated cookery school, The Cook's Place to give you a monthly book club with a difference! Each month Jo Hardy from Kemps selects a book that has a foodie vibe and while Jo discusses and reviews the book and opens the discussion, Gilly Robinson, owner and head tutor here at The Cooks Place, will then create two dishes mentioned in the text. Relax and enjoy as Gilly cooks and demonstrates how to make the dishes, which you eat along with a glass of something.
Cooking the Books is a great way to bring your love of books and cooking together. A wonderful night out for a group of book lovers or even on your own, to chat, eat and just a great excuse to read a book! A friendly, welcoming atmosphere awaits.
St. Clements Festival - Sally Coulthard - Free Author Event
Saturday 23rd November @ 15.00
Free Event - No Ticket Necessary
DECEMBER 2024
Book Club - Ghost Stories
Tuesday 3rd December @ 19:00 in Studio Bar, MIlton Rooms, Malton
The aim of a good ghost story is to make the blood freeze, pleasurably, and this M. R. James achieves to perfection in these wonderful stories. His most atmospheric settings include English country houses and gardens, the north end of the churchyard, the yew-maze in 'Mr Humphreys and his Inheritance' and the unforgettable train journey in 'Casting the Runes'. To each of these stories he brings an eye for the telling detail, an imaginative twist and a narrative tone that is, at least to begin with, urbane and reassuring ...
Do you love books? Want to get out of your reading rut and be introduced to new and exciting authors? Fancy meeting up with like-minded souls to talk about books for a couple of hours?
Then come along to our friendly local Book Group and meet others who share your passion for all things literary. We're a relaxed lot, so it doesn't matter whether you devoured the book in one sitting or gave up after two pages
Just come and tell us what you thought, and hear what others made of it too. All opinions welcome - we start with the book, but the discussion can end up anywhere.
Tickets are £5 plus a booking fee. If you wish to avoid online booking fees, please book in the shop.