‘No stuffy vibes … just good books’: Matt Haig to open bookshop in Brighton

Matt Haig, the bestselling author of titles including The Midnight Library and Reasons to Stay Alive, is opening a bookshop in Brighton.

The writer plans to open the shop, called Golden, by Christmas. It is located in the Seven Dials neighbourhood, a part of the coastal city that doesn’t currently have a bookshop.

“My belief, as someone who grew up in a town without a bookshop, is that all communities should have a bookshop, because bookshops save civilisation and make life interesting,” the author wrote on Instagram this week, adding that the shop “will be about freedom”.

“We won’t be pushing things we don’t want to push,” he said. “Just good books. Curated by me and people I trust. Mind-bending books. Tearful books. Banned books. Fun books. Graphic novels. Kids’ books. Grown-up books. Really cool music and art books. Books with words. Books that have no words but are really gorgeous to flick through. Books that are actually vinyl records. The best dead and living writers.”

There will be “the occasional evening event”, he added. “No stuffy vibes. No genre snobbery. No high/low book classism.” Dogs will also be welcome at the shop.

Haig, who was born in Sheffield, has written more than two dozen books for adults and children, including his breakthrough 2015 book Reasons to Stay Alive, an account of living with depression.

He follows several prominent authors who have established their own bookshops. Diary of a Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney set up An Unlikely Story in Plainville, Massachusetts; Ann Patchett opened Parnassus Books in Nashville in 2011; George RR Martin owns Beastly Books in Santa Fe.

In response to Haig’s announcement, writers including Dawn O’Porter, Bonnie Garmus and Donna Ashworth shared congratulations.