This Book Event has already taken place - but you can watch the replay if you missed it

Octavia Bright - This Ragged Grace

A Memoir of Recovery and Renewal

WithOctavia Bright
In conversation withRoxani Krystalli

At: The Portobello Bookshop

On:15th June 2023, 7:00pm - 8:00pm

Octavia Bright - This Ragged Grace at The Portobello Bookshop

We're delighted to be hosting an event with Octavia Bright for the Edinburgh launch of her new memoir, This Ragged Grace, one of our favourite non-fiction reads of the year. Octavia will be in conversation with Dr Roxani Krystalli.

This event will take place in the bookshop with an in-person audience, as well as a livestream for attendees watching from home. There will be a signing after the event.

In-person vouchers can be redeemed on the night of the event against a single copy of This Ragged Grace – we will have a list of attendees with vouchers to be redeemed. Please note that only one voucher can be redeemed per book. Livestream vouchers are valid until the day after the event and can be redeemed on the website against a single copy of This Ragged Grace.

About This Ragged Grace:

A beautiful, brave, ideas-rich, open and electric reckoning - with addiction, loss, self and hope in your twenties and thirties

This Ragged Grace tells the story of Octavia's journey through recovery from alcohol addiction, and the parallel story of her father's descent into Alzheimer's. Looking back over this time, each of the seven chapters explores the feelings and experiences of the corresponding year of her recovery, tracing the shift in emotion and understanding that comes with the deepening connection to this new way of life. Over the course of this seven-year period, life continues to unfold. Paths are abandoned, people fall ill, waters get choppy, seemingly impossible things are navigated without the old fixes.

As Octavia moves between London, the island of Stromboli, New York, Cornwall and Margate, each place offers something new but ultimately always delivers the same message: that wherever you go, you take yourself with you.

Please note: Tickets for our events are non-refundable. Professional photography and videography may take place during this event. Thank you for your understanding.

Participants:

Octavia Bright Author

Octavia Bright is a writer and broadcaster. She co-hosts Literary Friction, the literary podcast and NTS Radio show, with Carrie Plitt. Recommended by the New York Times, Guardian, BBC Culture, Electric Literature, Sunday Times and others, it has run for ten years and has listeners worldwide. She has also presented programmes for BBC R4 including Open Book, and hosts literary events for bookshops, publishers, and festivals - such as Cheltenham Literature Festival and events for The Southbank Centre. Her writing has been published in a number of magazines including the White Review,Harper's Bazaar, ELLE, Wasafiri, Somesuch Stories, and the Sunday Times, amongst others. She has a PhD from UCL where she wrote about hysteria and desire in Spanish cinema.

@octaviabright_ | octavia.bright

Roxani Krystalli Chair

Roxani Krystalli is an academic at the University of St Andrews. The animating question of her work is an inquiry into how people imagine worlds in the wake of loss and which relations and practices sustain life. She is currently co-leading a research programme on the political role of love, care, and joy in remaking worlds after mass grief.

The venue

The Portobello Bookshop

46 Portobello High Street
Edinburgh
EH15 1DA

Telephone: 0131 629 6756

Website: www.theportobellobookshop.com


Wheelchair Access

We have a ramp at the front of the shop which has a ratio of 1:10 and loading capacity of 300kg, and so should be able to be used by most wheelchair users or those with mobility vehicles. The front doors are fully automated. Our shop interior is designed to allow access throughout for wheelchair users and prams, though please note there is only 700mm wide clearance to access the staff toilet.

Sound

We use a PA system to enhance the audio at our live events. We also have a hearing loop system installed, if you’d like to use our loop system during an event please let us know and we’ll make sure we have it set up and connected to the live audio feed during the event. If you wish to attend an event and require BSL interpretation, please give us a few weeks notice and we’ll do our best to arrange an interpreter.