Heron & Willow
Our April Bookshop of the Month is Heron & Willow, situated in the town of Jedburgh in the Scottish Borders. Celebrating their first anniversary, we speak to Dean about why he opened the shop, the reading and writing groups he’s established in that time, and what’s in store. Read on to find out more!
1. Huge congratulations on your one-year anniversary and for being a finalist for Indie Bookshop of The Year (Regional and Country). Tell us what your vision was when you opened the shop a year ago.
My main aim was to create a place that people would be comfortable coming into. I think some people might walk past a bookshop in the same way that I might walk past a Women’s Fashion Boutique. They think ‘that’s not for me’. Which seems crazy to me, because I can’t not go into a bookshop when I see one! But books, reading, ideas – these should be for everyone. I’m conscious of this when I go into schools to speak to young people. I don’t assume they are all into reading. Some will say they are because they feel that’s what their teacher or parent wants them to say. I try to focus on that mindset and say, there’s a book out there for everyone, you just need to find it.
2. What is your favourite, and least favourite, part of a normal working day?
I like it first thing on a morning. It’s never busy at 9am, so I get to have a nice cup of tea and soak in the shop and plan the day. It then just unfolds gently – which local will call in first? What books will arrive today? I like chatting to visitors to the town and when families come in and the young people liven things up in the children’s section. I guess my least favourite part is the admin. It’s just me at Heron & Willow, so if the shop is quiet I crack on with the accounts. Dull but necessary
3. How do you choose the books that line your shelves – is there a particular genre that works well?
Having no previous bookselling knowledge, I could only really come at it from a reader’s perspective. What would I buy? What sounds interesting? What makes me raise my eyebrows? Even, which cover catches my eye? I dabbled with bestsellers at Christmas but I’m more interested in books that unearth untold stories or narratives that go somewhere new. My partner Jayne reads more than I do, so she recommends a lot too. After a year, this seems to have worked as I get nice comments on our selection. Running the shop has moved me away from a lot of non-fiction back towards fiction, which I have enjoyed. Running three book groups, all reading different things, helps with this!
4. What inspired you to think about running a writing club? How does it work, and what is The Book of Jed?
I’m not really comfortable with the idea of being a salesperson and I wouldn’t want to run a shop that was purely transactional. There’s no pleasure in that for me. When I opened the shop I was immediately interested in how it could be used to bring people together. Where we are, in Jedburgh, it is very rural. It is very hard to meet people. The book groups were my first step in looking at this, and I really enjoy them. The writing group was the next step. I was and am keen that Heron & Willow is a place that generates creativity. Because it is healthy and positive for a community. We meet every month and I provide a prompt for people to create a new piece of work. Or they can share a project they have ongoing. We’ve had people at retirement age who have written creatively for the first time since they were at school, and shared with people for the first time. That’s more important to me than running sessions on ‘how to get published.’ Though I’ve also started a free zine called The Book Of Jed which collects some of this work, so they are kind of getting published!
5, And last, but not least, do you have any exciting plans for the shop in the coming months that you would like to share with us?
We have a hidden yard around the back of the shop with a 300-odd year old outbuilding that is very nice. I’d like to develop that space for performances or workshops. I am hoping to repeat our Festival Of Stories which took place in September. And I would really like to develop some story writing sessions for young people and families for the summer holidays too. But most of all, I want to make sure I don’t burnout and get to enjoy being in my shop!