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Promoting the never-ending
joy of books and reading in Suffolk

Our Goal, Vision & Commitment

An annual programme of speakers and other events

Join online today

Upcoming Events

  • C. L. Miller
    C. L. Miller
    16 May 2024, 19:30
    Ipswich Institute, 15 Tavern St, Ipswich IP1 3AA, UK
    Cara’s new ‘cosy crime’ fiction, The Antique Hunter’s Guide to Murder was written in consultation with her mother, Judith Miller, an international antiques expert and specialist on BBC’s ‘Antiques Roadshow’.
  • Patrick Barkham
    Patrick Barkham
    19 Jun 2024, 19:30
    Ipswich Institute, 15 Tavern St, Ipswich IP1 3AA, UK
    Patrick Barkham, an award-winning natural history writer, will be talking about his new critically acclaimed, intimate biography, The Swimmer: the Wild Life of Roger Deakin (2023).
  • Caroline Davison
    Caroline Davison
    24 Jul 2024, 19:30
    Ipswich Institute, 15 Tavern St, Ipswich IP1 3AA, UK
    In 2023 Caroline won the New Angle Prize for Literature with The Captain’s Apprentice: Ralph Vaughan Williams and the Story of a Folk Song.
  • Eva Verde
    Eva Verde
    11 Sept 2024, 19:30
    Ipswich Institute, 15 Tavern St, Ipswich IP1 3AA, UK
    Eva Verde will be talking about her novel, In Bloom, about the complicated relationships between mothers and daughters
  • Rebecca Goss
    Rebecca Goss
    10 Oct 2024, 19:30
    Ipswich Institute, 15 Tavern St, Ipswich IP1 3AA, UK
    Rebecca Goss has published four critically acclaimed collections of poetry: The Anatomy of Structures, Her Birth, Girl, Latch and Carousel.
  • Polly Crosby
    Polly Crosby
    14 Nov 2024, 19:30
    Ipswich Institute, 15 Tavern St, Ipswich IP1 3AA, UK
    Polly Crosby's second novel is The Unravelling (2022) and her latest is Vita and the Birds (2023) She has two novels out in 2024. Her work is often inspired by the East Anglian landscape.
  • India Knight
    India Knight
    05 Dec 2024, 19:30
    Ipswich Institute, 15 Tavern St, Ipswich IP1 3AA, UK
    Best-selling author, India Knight, will be talking about Darling, a warm, witty, joyous, delightful contemporary re-imagining of Nancy Mitford’s romance The Pursuit of Love.
  • Online Event with Hannah Gold
    Online Event with Hannah Gold
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    Online
    Available to all - Hannah joined us to us about her debut novel The Last Bear which brings together the big theme of climate change with the story of one small girl and her encounter with a lonely bear. This is an online event open to the public at £5. This event was first released in April 2020.
  • Online Event with Francesca Wade
    Online Event with Francesca Wade
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    Online
    Available to all - Francesca Wade talks about her book 'Square Haunting', a Sunday Times Literary Non-Fiction Book of the Year, a Guardian Best Book of the Year This is an online event open to the public at £5. This event was first released in July 2021.
  • Online Event with Andy Friend
    Online Event with Andy Friend
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    Online
    Available to all - Andy Friend's biography is a comprehensive picture of John Nash’s life and art, and offers a compelling narrative, embracing both love and tragedy. This is an online event open to the public at £5. This event was first released in June 2021.
  • Online Event with George Szirtes
    Online Event with George Szirtes
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    Online
    Available to all - Join us as we interviewed George Szirtes about his memoir of his mother Magda, The Photographer at Sixteen. This is an online event open to the public at £5. This event was first released in May 2021.
  • Online Event with Fiona Sampson
    Online Event with Fiona Sampson
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    Online
    Available to all - In conversation with Fiona Sampson on her book about Elizabeth Barrett Browning
  • Online Event with Jeremy Page
    Online Event with Jeremy Page
    View any time
    Online
    Available to all - Matt Gaw is a writer and freelance journalist. His first book is The Pull of the River: A Journey into the Wild and Watery Heart of Britain. This is an online event open to the public at £5. This event was first released in February 2021.
  • Online Event with James Canton
    Online Event with James Canton
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    Online
    Available to all, join us in the company of one of the UK's foremost nature writers, James Canton, author of The Oak Papers. This is an online event open to the public at £5. This event was first released to members in September 2020.
  • Online Event with Matt Gaw
    Online Event with Matt Gaw
    View any time
    Online
    Available to all - Matt Gaw is a writer and freelance journalist. His first book is The Pull of the River: A Journey into the Wild and Watery Heart of Britain. This is an online event open to the public at £5. This event was first released in October 2020.
  • Online Event with Mbozi Haimbe
    Online Event with Mbozi Haimbe
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    Online
    Available to all, Mbozi Haimbe was awarded this year’s Commonwealth Short Story Prize for the Africa Region, for her short story “Madam’s Sister”. This is an online event open to the public at £5. This event was first released to members in November 2020.
  • Charlie Haylock
    Charlie Haylock
    17 Apr 2024, 19:30
    Ipswich Institute , 15 Tavern St, Ipswich IP1 3AA, UK
    A popular public speaker and an authority on the Suffolk dialect. Dialect coach for those playing Suffolk roles in The Dig, including Ralph Fiennes
  • Kate Worsley
    Kate Worsley
    07 Mar 2024, 19:30
    Ipswich Institute, 15 Tavern St, Ipswich IP1 3AA, UK
    Kate is talking about Foxash - described as powerful, visceral and unsettling, with ‘a gothic sensibility’.

To us, reading matters

Suffolk Book League is a registered charity that has encouraged a love of reading since 1982 and continues to support a range of local initiatives across the county. Aside from bringing a range of popular and distinguished writers to Suffolk, we have held short story competitions, donated books to hospital and hospice libraries, supported literacy groups and partner events, including the Suffolk Libraries School Book Mastermind competition.

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In May 2019 the novelist Tessa Hadley appeared  at one of our regular monthly events. Afterwards she commented:

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‘So great to remember that there are groups like your Book League out there,  full of such authentic love for literature, so well-read and with such sophisticated understanding. Of course that’s who we writers are addressing, always. But so reassuring to meet that audience in person.’

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