About The Albion Beatnik
An enthusiastic bookshop with a relaxed cafe, evening events (poetry & jazz) and stock that, as Dorothy Parker might have said, covers the gamut from A-B.
The Albion Beatnik Description
The Albion Beatnik is an independent and enthusiastic bookshop in Jericho, Oxford, with an eclectic collection of titles ranging from American pulp to Beatnik poetry: definitely a bookshop with a difference, described by the Sunday Times as the "best bookshop in Oxford, " and although we know what they mean, some refer to it as the best bookshop in the world. It opens til late and hosts events on most evenings, especially in term time – particularly poetry and music, themed literary evenings and general talks and debates. It has a reading group which meets each month. Early starts are now frowned upon (old age has kicked in and the shop has resumed its 1. 00pm kick-off).
The relaxed cafe offers fine tea (brewed from tea leaves in a tea pot), coffee and cake. Abfab music is always on the CD. But if you park your bike over the steps leading in to the bookshop, expect a stern reprimand and, if you are lucky, a spanking.
The shop is participative and encourages input from its community – help with the hoovering is always appreciated; this does not mean it is a zany or hippy kingdom, although love and world peace, long hair and beards, organic crap and shamanism are encouraged. You can expect 10% discount if you have dreadz (cool) or like Miles Davis and explain why.
It is an anti-wi-fi zone (we think you can have too much of a bad thing). We think the internet is great, but the written word is better; we abhor democracy and adore anarchy (in a sort of postmodern, dodecaphonic sort of way); we think you should buy a book because you want to read it, not because it is cheap, although this doesn't give publishers or booksellers the license to overcharge (unless they can get away with it). The shop has a no petting, diving or bombing policy (unless with the owner). And if you are genuine and enthusiastic, you are always welcome.
Reviews
The concert is now SOLD OUT. There *may* be a few tickets available on the door, but only after all with tickets have gained access.
This show will be in the Blue Room (on the first floor) of St Aldates Tavern, central Oxford. Please note the start time: 4:30pm.
ADA MILEA was trained as an actress at Târgu Mureş. She spent a brief period as classical actress in Romania's National Theatre (where she admits that her Mistress Quickly in The Merry Wives of Windsor was a little sl...ow) before she made a name in the Cirque du Soleil in Canada. She then broke away to forge a prominent place in the alternative and vibrant music scene in Romania and has made a sequence of brilliant recordings over twenty years. She writes primarily for the theatre; her shows are performed throughout Romania (where she is booked up for four years ahead as a writer). Ada performs also in concert with various groups, always with a great sense of theatricality and fun. Novel interpretation of great works of literature - from Cervantes to Daniil Harms and Gellu Naum - are paramount to her work.
ANCA HANU studied as an actress in Cluj where she now works at the National Theatre; in recent years she has won national and prestigious awards for her work, including several Best Actress Awards. She has been a mainstay of Ada Milea's various musical groups for the last five years.
Tickets for sale (£10 full price, £8 students) https://www.wegottickets.com/event/451388
Enquiries: email albionbeatnikbookshop@gmail.com or text 07737 876213.
[When Ada performed at the Albion Beatnik many years ago, the shop was packed to the rafters.]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuXIYVyKh 18
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jG_GoMvz ME
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https://www.wegottickets.com/event/421260
The Oxford Silent Film Society has risen from the grave. Ghosts and ghouls are invited to their Halloween screening, programmed by Dr Richard Kendallstein. First, three short films from France, Spain and America. Each share a name (The Haunted House) and a theme (a house that is haunted). The first is a very early George Méliès work (1897); the second an effort from his rival Segundo de Chomón (1908); and finally a comedy parody from the great Buster Keaton (1921). Each is a... technical marvel for its time, and watching them together is a treat. The main film is one of the most bizarre in the cinematic canon, full stop. Häxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages is a Swedish pseudo-documentary (1922) that purports to show the history of the occult and devilry in civilisation from Ancient Egypt to the 'present' day. It has become a cult classic, famously re-edited in the 1960s and narrated by William Burroughs. This screening will be of the silent original. Entry is £3, levied by gravediggers, who also serve popcorn and wine that has been transubstantiated into bones and blood. All screenings will be prefaced by a brief introduction.
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Chris Norris is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at Cardiff University. He is a leading scholar on deconstruction, and the work of Derrida; his current interest is the connection between philosophy and poetry. He has written over 30 books on philosophy, literary theory and music. His poetry collections include 'The Cardinal's Dog' (2013), 'The Winnowing Fan', and 'For the Tempus Fugitives: Poems and Verse-essays' (2017). Chris Norris has been described as the inventor of the ...Verse-essay, or the poetry of ideas.
The evening has been promoted by The Wednesday, a new weekly magazine concerned with philosophy, art and poetry. The Wednesday discussion group meets at the Albion Beatnik each Wednesday afternoon from 4pm. It extends an open invitation to all who wish to attend their Wednesday afternoon meetings.
£2 entry; refreshment is available.
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'Kotan Chronicles' is a collection of texts of the poetry of Sarashina Genzō, translated into English for the first time by Nadine Willems. It takes the reader into the lives of the Ainu, the indigenous people of Hokkaido, and their interaction with Japanese settlers in the 1920s and 1930s, a period when the traditional world of the kotan, or Ainu village, was being destroyed by the rapid development of the island.
Sarashina Genzō, a second-generation settler born in the town... of Teshikaga in 1904 lived in close proximity to the Ainu. With a powerful and distinctive voice, his poetry probes this extraordinary cultural encounter in Japan’s far north, also depicting the beauty of the Hokkaido landscape and the back-breaking work required to survive there in an era of economic hardship.
The poetry is introduced, read and discussed by Nadine Willems (University of East Anglia) and Paul Rossiter (the publisher of the book, Isobar Press which specializes in Japanese poetry).
Introductory and interval music from a local jazz duo - Gail Tasker on flute and Matheus Prado on double bass - who will play tunes inspired by Japanese children's songs of the era. (Sarashina worked also as an elementary school teacher.)
Free entry; refreshment is available.
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An evening of poetry and music in remembrance of all victims of war, with Adnan al-Sayegh, Jenny Lewis, Jenyth Worsley, Peter J. King, Jude Cowan Montague, Ruba Abughaida, Janet Davey & Chinta Kallie.
Readings (in several languages) and reflections on little known conflicts such as the disastrous Mesopotamian Campaign from which much current geo-political unrest springs; a new polyphonic composition by Janet Davey of one of Wilfred Owen's best-loved poems, Futility; and the Oxford launch of Sura Hussein Mohammed Ali's Seeds of Bullets, a study of the poetry of Wilfred Owen and Adnan al-Sayegh.
£6 entry; refreshment is available.
Am sort of going commercially peripheral: am real pleased to start selling a range of natural beauty product that's made in fresh batches very close to Oxford. What links the Leafology range to the shop is that every product contains tea, either in its leaf form or its extract. Tea is ultra-rich in antioxidant power (it also laid the foundation for our industrial revolution, is host to the addictive sport of biscuit dunking, and there are over 60 types in the cafe here), so t...his range glows with health.
I've been seriously impressed with this business as I've watched its genesis over the past year. I've witnessed it grow from a casual, almost accidental starting point to its fully fledged presentation today. It is smart in its marketing (there are miniature essays on its labels, a natty font also), snappy in its use of logo and storyboarding (Harvey, the six foot rabbit in James Stewart's imagination, my favourite childhood film, gets an apothecarial workout), and it all smells delicious. Just over twenty items in its list so far [https://leafology.co.uk/shop/], and if you're overly butch and think lip balm, body care, facial oil, mothering stuff and all the rest are a bit too feminine, then grow stubble and smear its beard oil (which tastes good, sorry to be kinky). Leafology has also devised two Yuletide teas - one black, one white - to be featured in the shop this Christmas season. Testing pots are here to sample if you stand unsure on tea and beauty or its alpha-wave contentment. Leafology contains nothing synthetic and uses only plant-derived ingredient, is suitable even for fussy vegans.
Local food stuff (like jam) to be sold here very soon, too, also bars of chocolate, teas (both bag and leaf), and I'll be able to match these teas (and choccy) to an appropriate book. Gotta work out, too, the best read to accompany beard oil. Probably not Jane Austen. Perhaps Freud, who must have had something to say about beard envy, coz he had a big one.
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This year's programme for the Woodstock Poetry Festival.
This Saturday, 17th June 7:45pm, Amphion Consort plays Stylus Fantasticus. Jennifer Bennett on baroque violin and Yair Avidor on theorbo will play an informal concert. Top-notch stuff. Jennifer played in the shop in January with a group led by Tali Atzmon, and was an absolute wow! Music to include some very exciting C17th century virtuosic sonatas and toccatas by Pandolfi-Meali, Heinrich Biber, Kapsperger et al. https://www.youtube.com/watch…
The brilliant Sarah Gillespie here next on November 18th!
Wonderful, quirky bookshop, and you can get a good cup of tea hear too.
We are doing the following music event on Tuesday 3 May, 7:30pm at Dennis' beautiful bookstore:
Emmanuel Pariselle and Richard Burgess are two exceptional concertina players touring the UK, weaving French, British and Norwegian tunes and songs.
The annagrammatic Core Egg Spree Trio is made of musicians who have collaborated in various settings over the last few years.
Malcolm Atkins (Keys/Violin), Pete McPhail (Sax/Flute), Bruno Guastalla (Cello/ Bandoneon)
Their recent work with Cafe Reason Butoh Dance Company resulted in two acclaimed performances in January this year at the Pegasus Theatre in Oxford.
Do come!
£7
The " must see " in Oxford for books,poetry,music and tea :)
Probably has all the books I would want to and should read. Full of character like the books it stocks...
Nice atmosphere .. friendly owner .. feel good to have a drink with friends there.
Just beautiful, peaceful, original, magic, respectful, familiar. Perfect.
Excellent venue for book launches, for our story telling club, and for meeting your friends.
Easy place. Relax. Events. Nice people.
Books, books and books.
Just sit and breath.
Anything Alan Morrison recommends is bound to be excellent-he knows more about the contemporary poetry scene than anyone I can think of.
A place with the soul, where we can choose cup and drink and listen to life performing various artists. I have found there the greatest books from all over the world, also from my country.
A fine and friendly establishment, a must go to place for lovers of books, tea, cake, jazz and poetry
A REAL bookstore, where books are loved - reminiscent of an era where lovers of literature would hang out for hours poring over texts that could open up entirely new worlds.
What a treat to hear Frank Harrison and Gilhad last night. Thanks for organising it. A few too many reserved seats to VIPs ,