FOR the second year running, Folde nature bookshop at Shaftesbury has been named as a regional and country finalists in the British Book Awards. Last year the shop, at the top of Gold Hill, got through to the finals of the awards, which are known as the NIBBIEs.
The awards are organised by The Bookseller magazine and judged by a prestigious panel of industry specialists, authors, journalists and celebrities. The Independent Bookshop of the Year category “celebrates stores that reach beyond the literary landscape and bring books to the heart of local communities.”
This year saw the highest ever number of entries. Organisers said the 72 finalists listed across nine different regions and countries reflected how independent bookshops in the UK and Ireland “continue to thrive with imagination and innovation boosting sales, amid rising challenges on the high street”. Folde is the only bookshop in Dorset among the ten in the South West to have been named as a regional and country finalist.
“We are delighted to have made it to the regional finals for the second year in a row,” says co-founder Karen Brazier. “It’s no less exciting than winning the regional prize last year and reflects that we are now established as a placemaker within our community, where we play an active part in the success of our high street and provide a welcoming space for all.”
Co-founder Amber Harrison says: “For us, as a niche bookshop with a nature writing focus and the first bricks-and-mortar bookshop in Europe to be BCorp certified, the awards give us an opportunity to share our vision and purpose in celebrating and championing the natural world.”
Tom Tivnan, The Bookseller’s managing editor, says: “I have been judging this award for a decade and a half and I have never seen such depth of quality and energy in the submissions, from the newcomers to most venerable stores.
“British and Irish indies continue to thrive, despite the overall climate, with entrepreneurship and creativity. These finalists are wonderfully unique and idiosyncratic, but there is a link in that all of them are not confined by the four walls of their shops – they are out in their communities organising festivals, visiting schools, bringing authors to town. Sure, they sell a lot of books but that is just the start: independent bookshops are Britain and Ireland’s local cultural linchpins.”
Folde Dorset will now wait to see if it can win the South West region once again to be in with another chance of contending for the national prize, which will be announced at The British Book Awards ceremony in London on 12th May.
On a personal note, we here at Fine Times Recorder love Folde – it is a treasure-trove of nature writing, with established and exciting new writers, classics of the genre and pioneering explorations and nature-related science. We wish them luck in the next round.
Pictured: Amber Harrison and Karen Brazier