To celebrate the release of the Christmas edition of Death of A Bookseller, The Common Press are delighted to be hosting bestselling author Alice Slater, alongside Rivers Solomon, Alison Rumfitt, & (virtually) Addie Tsai, Tony Santorella and Gerardo Samano Cordova for an evening of literary discussion that delves into the spine-chilling world of the festive season.
Venture beyond the twinkling lights and joyful carols as we unravel the shadows hiding within holiday cheer. Our panel of esteemed authors will guide you through the suspenseful tales that lurk beneath the tinsel and mistletoe.
Nothing says ‘Happy Holidays’ like a gruesome ghost story!
About the authors:
Alison Rumfitt
Alison Rumfitt is a writer and semi-professional trans woman. Her debut pamphlet of poetry, The T(y)ranny, was a critical deconstruction of Margaret Atwood’s work through the lens of a trans woman navigating her own misogynistic dystopia. It was published by Zarf Editions in 2019. Tell Me I’m Worthless, her debut novel, was published by Cipher Press in 2021, and her second novel, Brainwyrms, in October 2023. Her work has appeared in countless publications such as Granta, Rolling Stone, SPORAZINE, datableed, The Final Girls, Burning House Press, SOFT CARTEL, Glass Poetry and more. Her poetry was nominated - twice! - for the Rhysling Award in 2018. You can find her on Twitter @hangsawoman and @alison.zone on Instagram. She loves her friends.
Alice Slater
Alice Slater spent six years working as a bookseller with Waterstones. She started as a Christmas temp in Manchester Deansgate and worked her way up to bookshop manager of Romford, then Gower Street's fiction section, and eventually Notting Hill Gate, lending a hand in 20 different branches across the UK on the way. Now a London-based writer, she is a co-host of literary podcast "What Page Are You On?" and writes for
Mslexia. You can find her on Instagram & Twitter @alicemjslater
Rivers Solomon
Rivers Solomon is the author of An Unkindness of Ghosts, winner of the CLMP Firecracker Award for best independently published novel, and The Deep, a novella written in collaboration with Daveed Diggs and the rap group clipping., which was the winner of the 2020 Lambda Award and a finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, Locus and Goodreads Choice literary awards. Faer writing has been featured in Black Warrior Review, The New York Times, Guernica, Best American Short Stories and elsewhere. Originally from Turtle Island, fae currently lives in London with faer family. Rivers is on Instgram @rivers.solomon
joining us virtually,
Addie Tsai
Addie Tsai (any/all) is an Asian American, Houston-raised, queer non-binary artist and writer who teaches Creative Writing at William & Mary. Addie is the author of the queer Asian young adult novel, Dear Twin (Metonymy Press), and the adult queer, non-binary, biracial Asian, Frankenstein retelling, Unwieldy Creatures (Jaded Ibis Press). Unwieldy Creatures has received rave reviews from outlets like BookRiot, Electric Lit, The Advocate, Buzzfeed News, Ms. Magazine, and a stunning blurb from MacArthur Genius Prize winner and Mississippi writer, Kiese Laymon. Addie is the Fiction co-Editor and Editor of Features & Reviews at Anomaly, contributing writer at Spectrum South, and Founding Editor in Chief at the LGBTQIA+ fashion literary and arts magazine, just femme & dandy. Unwieldy Creatures was a 2022 Shirley Jackson Award finalist for Outstanding Achievement in Horror, Psychological Suspense, and Dark Fantasy Fiction.
Tony Santorella
Tony Santorella was born and raised in Danvers, Massachusetts, site of the Salem Witch Trials and related hauntings. He moved to Washington, DC in 2005, where he waited tables until beginning his decade-long career in international development. Through his work he has travelled the globe designing aid programs in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa including a two-year stint in London for his Master's degree. He began writing his debut novel to explore his fascination with the mystical from his hometown and the power and ambition of the capital through the acerbic irreverence of the service industry. When he's not writing, he's spending time with his husband Robert and their two cats Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Gerardo Sámano Córdova
Gerardo Sámano Córdova is a writer and artist from Mexico City living in Brooklyn. He's currently Writer in Residence at Fordham University. He got his MFA from the Helen Zell Writers’ Program at the University of Michigan. He has studied at Bread Loaf as a work/study scholar (2019) and fellow (2023) and at the Tin House Summer Workshop (2019). He's currently working on a second novel.
Date: 7th December
Time: Doors open from 6:30pm
Location: The Common Press Bookshop
Authors will be signing copies of their books in the bookshop after the event
Please note: this event will be taking place in our downstairs events space and is unfortunately not wheelchair accessible.
There are a limited number of free tickets available for this event - if you cannot afford the minimum pay-what-you-can ticket type, please email us at books@commonpress.co.uk and we will add you to the guest list, no questions asked.