Welcome to Brighton People, a new series from We Love Brighton celebrating the brilliant individuals, organisations, and businesses that make our city shine. This week we’ve spoken to Afrori Books, an award-winning community Black-owned bookshop in the centre of Brighton.
Please tell us about Afrori Books for anyone who doesn’t already know.
Afrori Books is a multi award winning bookshop on North Road just three minutes from the train station. We specialise in books by Black authors and are Brighton’s only Black-owned bookshop. We have over 1,300 titles in the shop covering all genres. We host a wide range of events and workshops throughout the year, from author events to yoga, children’s events and much more.
The bookshop is a great space to hang out have a cuppa, work, meet friends. It’s also a beautiful space to hold your own events. The bookshop is also a space beyond our own walls. We continually take the shop out into the city, to the universities, corporations and schools. We run anti-racist training, external bookshops and host authors in other spaces around the city.
What has Afrori Books been up to and what’s coming up?
We have had a plethora of names and events in the shop including Lenny Henry, Diane Abbot, Eve, Nnedi Okorofar, Dorothy Koomson and many more. Over the summer we have two very exciting children’s events. Our Murder mystery pizza night will gather a group of middle grade children who will attempt to work which one of them is the murderer. In August, we have our under 7’s treasure hunt and book launch. We will be finding the treasure and enjoying an exclusive event with Illustrator of the year Dapo Adeola.
On Saturday, July 19, we have New York Times bestseller, author and screen writer Attica Locke with us for one night only in conversation with British best seller Dorothy Koomson.
What is your connection to Brighton?
Owner Carolynn has lived in Brighton for over 20 years. She says: “This is my city and I want to help it to become the greatest city. And that means the city has to be a place where everyone feels welcome and seen.”
What do you love about Brighton?
The sea, the pace, the eclectic collection of people, the untapped potential, the size.
Anything else you would like to share with our readers?
The bookshop thrives because of the community. We are an important part of the Brighton landscape. We are continually targeted by racists, but we are also continually showered with love and support from those who want to diversify their bookshelves and be a part of big change. We love what we do and we would love to hear from the community about other kinds of events that you think we should be running in your bookshop.
Website | Address: Brighthelm Church & Community Centre, Brighton BN1 1YD | Events
