Events



We have our very own Kemps Events programme with plenty of interesting workshops and events of all kinds.  Of course we have all things 'Book' - signings, talks, readings but also plenty of non-book related events such as crafting, food talks, demos and writing workshops, kids and seasonal events, special shopping sessions and many others.

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   

MARCH 2024  

 

APRIL 2024  

Book Club - Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson

2nd and 4th April @ 19:00

1926, and in a country still recovering from the Great War, London has become the focus for a delirious new nightlife. But success breeds enemies, and Nellie's empire faces threats from without and within. For beneath the dazzle of Soho's gaiety, there is a dark underbelly, a world in which it is all too easy to become lost.

With her unique Dickensian flair, Kate Atkinson brings together a glittering cast of characters in a truly mesmeric novel that captures the uncertainty and mutability of life; of a world in which nothing is quite as it seems.

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. 

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Author Event - Lucy Holland - Song of the Huntress

Wednesday 10th April at 19.00

 Join Alex, aficionado of all things early-medieval and lover of historical fiction, as she chats to Lucy, bestselling author of Sistersong, about her latest book, Song of the Huntress. Lucy is a former Waterstones bookseller and has an MA in creative writing; she co-hosts Breaking the Glass Slipper, an award-winning feminist podcast.

This evening will be perfect for lovers of historical fiction and feminist retellings of ancient stories and myth. Enjoy an evening of conversation discussing Lucy’s books, and perhaps a more general foray into the writing of historical fiction and fantasy.

£5 per ticket. Unreserved seating. Book instore or online. Online bookings may be subject to booking fee.

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Cooking The Books - Fowl Play by Sally Coulthard

11th April @ 19:00 at The Cook's Place, Malton

The humble chicken has conquered the world - this unlikely descendant of Tyrannosaurus Rex is now so ubiquitous there are more than 20 billion chickens pecking, strutting and scratching around the planet at any one time.

Sally Coulthard charts the chicken's fascinating journey from dinosaur to domestication, exploring every aspect of the history of Gallus gallus domesticus. As informative as it is entertaining, Fowl Play tells a remarkable tale of evolutionary change, epic global travel and ruthless exploitation - as well as of companionship, ingenuity and the folly of human nature. Longing for something more thrilling, she heads off to speak to the nation’s housewives.

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.

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Author Event - Katie Carr: Moderate Becoming Good Later

Saturday 14th April at 19.30

Due to a rare genetic condition, Toby Carr knew that he would not reach old age but, with this knowledge, he was determined to live his life completely. Therefore, after much planning and preparation, he set out on a sea kayak to visit every area of the shipping forecast. It was a journey that would connect him with amazing places and people but he would not live to see his journey in print.

Step forward Katie, his sister, who has lovingly and meticulously transformed her brother’s journals into this most absorbing of travelogues, Moderate Becoming Good Later.

Bearing comparison to Raynor Winn’s The Salt Path, this book is both inspirational and moving in equal measure and it is our pleasure to welcome Katie to Kemps to chat about it

 £5 per ticket. Unreserved seating. Book instore or online. Online bookings may be subject to booking fee.

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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. 

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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 TLSPN 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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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. 

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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.

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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. 

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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. 

 

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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.

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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.

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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. 

 

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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.

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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

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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. 

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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.

BUY TICKETS

 

DECEMBER 2024   

Book Club - Ghost Stories

Tuesday 3rd and Thursday 5th December @ 19:00

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. 

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