You are viewing your 1 free article this month. Login to read more articles.
Authors across the spectrum of genres turned out in support of the New Bookshop in Cumbria's Cockermouth, which re-opened at the weekend (4th July) after being devastated by floods last year.
According to http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/jul/05/new-bookshop-cockermouth-cum... target="_blank">The Guardian, Hunter Davies, Ann Cleeves, Matt Hilton and Jacob Polley were among those to turn up at the opening.
"Hunter Davies came down because he lives locally, crime writer Ann Cleeves and poet Jacob Polley were there, and we had local thriller writer Matt Hilton too," the shop's owner Catherine
Hetherington told the paper. "People are so pleased to see us back – we've had so many people say they are so pleased to see another step being taken towards Cockermouth getting back to itself."
A handwritten poem by the poet laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, written at the time of the flooding, was auctioned, with all proceeds going to the bookshop, while Polley wrote a poem for the occasion, which he read to shop visitors.
The opening was also backed by a host of authors from publisher Pan Macmillan, including Ben Fogle, James Cracknell, Scott Turow and Andrew Marr, all of whom donated signed copies of their titles.
"To see the hard work and devotion of the New Bookshop being destroyed overnight was heartbreaking and we at Pan Macmillan are determined to help in any way possible," sales director Geoff Duffield said. "Independent bookshops are the lifeblood of our business and as publishers we utterly depend upon the passion and commitment of booksellers."