Book award could be heading in the wronger direction
Typewronger Books, a tiny bookshop hidden in a basement at the top of Leith Walk, has made it to the regional finals of the British Book Awards.
Named among the finalists for the title of Indie Bookshop of the Year, it started as a popup at the Leith Walk Police Box in 2017. The quirky shop is now located at 4a Haddington Place, in what was the old gallery space at McNaughtan’s antiquarian bookshop.
Surviving the impacts of the pandemic and tramworks, Typewronger is seen as an Aladdin’s cave of beautiful new books, filled with indie-exclusive and signed copies from major publishers, alongside local authors, small presses, artist books and zines.
Anyone buying a book can have it stamped in red ink with the distinctive linocut shop logo as a memory of their time there, while staff create little origami animals to give away with each purchase.
There are over 100 typewriters on the premises, collected by eccentric founder and occasional typewriter mechanic Tee Hodges, including a “Royal 10” from 1914 that is free for anyone to use to write letters, poems, short stories, or to add text to art projects.
Tee said: “We are chuffed to bits to be Scottish finalists for indie bookshop of the year. And what a list – so many brilliant beautiful bookshops. It just goes to show indie bookselling is back, it’s better than ever, and we’re delighted and proud to be a part of that.”
Keen be at the heart of the community, Typewronger runs a free events programme, often focussing on local poets and writers at the start of their career.
There’s also a play reading group called “Type-Cast!” run by shop manager Elsa van der Wal, and the infamous monthly Typewronger Open Mic where participants can perform any genre they want, be it poetry, short stories, comedy, music, philosophy, magic tricks. The only rule is keep within time or risk the wrath of the shop gong.
Every Christmas Day the shop is opened to serve free Christmas soup to anyone who drops by, and on New Year’s Day they open 1pm to 4pm with free Bloody Marys for those suffering from the night before.
www.typewronger.com
It just goes to show indie bookselling is back, and better than ever