Lighthouse - Edinburgh's Radical Bookshop

@lighthousebks.bsky.social

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Queer-owned and woman-led independent community bookshop. 🏳️‍🌈 An unapologetically activist, intersectional, feminist, antiracist, lgbtq+ community space. Find us at https://lighthousebookshop.com/

Alice Oseman stands in the shop holding a bunch of Heartstopper Volume 6.
on a soft green background is the book cover for Pluto Press's The Gaza Tribunal. Next to the book cover is a photo of Jeremy Corbyn, wearing a purple scarf and glasses
A ginger bookseller in a whimsical stripey jacket grins, eyes closed mid giggle, as she holds up a stack of queer nature books inspired by and reflecting on the book she holds up to the camera called Q Is For Garden. Mairi (she/her)
A poster with the details for July 15th event, Jenny Chamerette, a white nonbinary person with a quiff and glasses smiles at the camera beside a copy of their bookQ is for Garden,a a bold, tender exploration of how queerness and nature entwine - and what happens when we step beyond the binaries that fence us in.
a banner for an event on Tuesday July 14th with Ross Brooks- the picture is an edited cover for the book 'Darwin and the Queer Origins of Life' which shows us how queerness was at the heart of evolutionists’ thinking about the natural world.
A ginger bookseller in a whimsical stripey jacket grins, eyes closed mid giggle, as she holds up a stack of queer nature books inspired by and reflecting on the book she holds up to the camera called Q Is For Garden.
An orange and pink image of guavas - the text reads "Guava turns one, Thursday 9th July"
on the bookshop floor is a colourful array of hardback and paperback books, all listed in the blog post linked in this post!
Pao holds a pile of queer art novels outside the shop.
A white and coloured event banner that reads "july book events" and then has a black and white Lighthouse: Edinburgh's Radical Bookshop logo.
A mystery bookseller holds up a pile of thrillers to their face. A cap covers their forehead.
An image of an aurora night sky which reads Other Fruit LGBTQ+ Book Club and an image of An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon.
An image that reads Women in Translation book club, Your Wish is My Command by Deena Mohamed and has an image of two hands holding a glass bottle.
An image of a woman in old-fashioned garb. To the left the banner says Scottish sapho saige 1586 Marie Maitland, and underneath is a copy of With My Own Hand. To the right of the woman is a Lighthouse logo and underneath it says "Ashley Douglas on Scotland's 16th Century Sappho, Wednesday 22nd July , 7pm"
A coral background with text that reads Bright Futures: Sci-Fi Book Club to the left of the banner, a copy of The Blazing World in the middle and a shell.
A green and pink banner that says "an evening in the bookshop garden with Jenny Chamarette, Wednesday 15th July, 7pm" with the Lighthouse logo on the top right in white. To the left is a photo of Q is for Garden and an image of Jenny Chamarette.
A black background with a multicoloured butterfly. To the left, the banner reads Tuesday 14th July, 7pm, Lighthouse, Darwin and the Queer Origins of Life. On the bottom right, it reads "A History of Sex and Science, Ross Brooks."
A green and orange banner that reads 'Philosophy & Hope book club: re-evaluating the now to re-envision the future' with an image of David Graber and an image of the book The Utopia of Rules. A logo of Lighthouse bookshop sits at the bottom right corner of the banner.
A text of beautiful guavas with leaves which reads Guava turns one, Thursday 9th July.
A banner for Florenzer which includes a Renaissance painting of a fainting topless white man surrounded by cupids. There is text that reads Wednesday 8th July, 7pm launch, Florenzer, a queer renaissance novel by Phil Melanson hosted by Andrés Ordorica. To the left are images of Phil, Andres and the book.
A black banner with various different items - a wind instrument handle, scissors, a cup of tea, a sword, a key, a chess piece and others with lettering that reads "Nothing brings a family together quite like murder...". Underneath in big lettering, it says THE HEIRS, Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé - Thursday 2nd July, 7PM. To the left of the banner is a photo of Faridah.
on a moody background are floating illustrations of chess pieces, buttons, and a pair of embroidery scissors. In the centre is a circle with a photo of author Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, beside a photo of Margaret McDonald
In a bright bookshop stands Mairi, a white person with short ginger hair, wearing a striped shirt. She is holding a copy of At Sea
Mother Mary Comes to Me and The Names on book stands with the bookshop as a backdrop.
Christina stands outside the shop next to a sign that reads 'Look After Each Other' holding copies of World Without End, Centrefolding, The Book of Emma Reyes and Know My Name.
A blue banner that reads 'Independent Bookshop Week x Pride Month - Rainbow Verses: A Night of Queer Poetry from Indie Presses, Thursday 18th June, 7pm.' There is a rainbow throughout the bottom bit of the banner alongside three authors - Zain Rishi, Kym Deyn and Nathan Evans, as well as their books Noon, Folk(ish) and Homography.
a purple background with floating illustrated leaves shows a drawing of Nick and Charlie from Heartstopper, and a photo of author and illustrator Alice Oseman
A banner that looks like a bookshop shop front with a cat by the door. Hanging from the door is a sign that says "Wednesday 10th June! An evening with AJ West & June Thomas plus Q&A with Bob & Sigrid from Lavender Menace!" To the right is a copy of the book "How Queer Bookshops Changed the World" and to the far right is a photo of AJ West and June Thomas.
A rainbow coloured banner that reads "Presenting: A Very Queer Summar Book Event Programme"
A dark background with images of flowers, skulls and plants. There is an image of Rottenheart by Kat Dunn with a similar backdrop with a white woman just behind the lettering holding a skull. The subtext reads "Revenge me for I am murdered..." Right to the left is a red tinted photo of Kat Dunn, and to the right, an image of Kirsty Logan. To the right of this is text which reads "Kat Dunn is back... Rottenheart launching with Kat Dunn & Kirsty Logan in the bookshop garden. Tuesday 9th June, 7pm."
an oil rig is illustrated in a dark blue sea. in the left-hand corner are author photos for Y.M. Abdel-Magied and Rachelle Atalla, and birds fly all over the illustration
a maroon background shows the bright red book cover for Capitalists Must Starve by Park Seolyeon, translated by Anton Hur
a colourful purple, orange, cream and black background with raised hands and floral motifs shows the book cover for Uprising, and Tahmima Anam's author photo
a blue and purple background with illustrated hands reaching out towards two book covers which read ARACANA! In the corner is an illustration of author-illustrator Sam Prentice-Jones, who is smiling
a painting of a Parisian garden with lush trees shows the book cover of Jane Healey's novel Crescendo, and an author portrait of Jane Healey in a corner
a vivid teal background and a swirly rainbow shows photos of poets Zain Rishi, Nathan Evans, Kym Deyn and their book covers
a blue and white collage shows a choppy seascape, with the cover of Sea of Tranquility floating above it all
A grey-and-white illustration shows a starry night sky, a lightning bolt, a hand clicking its fingers, a lighthouse, an urn overflowing with a magical cloud, and an open mic in a spotlight
A pastel-coloured bookshop backdrop with a photo of AJ West and June Thomas. A grey and black cat walks across the street
a lush background of a meadow filled with flowers shows a woman's face, a ribcage and a skull. This is the book event for Kat Dunn's new novel Rottenheart, a gothic horror
on a green, orange and yellow background is a photo of author Byung-Chul Han next to a copy of the book The Disappearance of Rituals
on a background of a cream and blue grid is an illustration of Robin wearing a blue top, and the title reads An Evening of Weirdness and Wonder with Robin Ince
on a black background is a photograph of Samar Yazbek, and the white-and-navy cover of her book Your Presence is a Danger to your Life
A four square image with a gradient rainbow backdrop. The top left square reads "Preorder Father Material and receive 3 vellums and a signed bookplate, Lighthouse Books, Edinburgh, Scotland." The top right square reads "Heartstopper Volume 6 Pre-order Competition - win an illustration of you and a friend drawn by Alice Oseman!" underneath there is a photo of Alice, an illustration of Charlie and Nick and a photo of the cover of Heartstopper Volume 6." The top left square reads "Pre-order your copy of The Unmagical Life of Briar Jones from Lighthouse Bookshop to receive an exclusive enamel pin badge and character art postcard. Below is an image of the book cover and to the right is a photo of the card and the badge. The last square is an image of a book stack of all of the books by the authors included in the image, Alexis Hall, Lex Croucher and Alice Oseman!
A pink postcard background that says "Postcards for Abortion Rights, A creative/collage/campaigning session" Sun 31st May 10.30-12 (drop ins welcome). Underneath there is a pink loudspeaker and the logo for Let's Change the Act.
A dark gothic poster which reads "Launch, Lighthouse, 7pm, Weds 27th May, Elle Machray & Jean Menzies" and has the cover of Havisham right underneath. To the right is a picture of Elle wearing glasses and a copy of their earlier book, Remember, Remember.
Pao stands in front of bookcases holding a great big book pile with Havisham on top!
on wooden floorboards we have placed five books from our book clubs - Balkan Rhapsody, Turkey's Neo-Ottomanist Moment, Sea of Tranquility, Chlorine and The Disappearance of Rituals
A pile of books being held up by a hand wearing a cream shirt, with bookshelves filled with books as a backdrop. The books are: Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane, (Hamish Hamilton, Penguin Random House UK) Careless People: A Story of Where I Used to Work by Sarah Wynn-Williams, (Pan, Pan Macmillan) Normally Weird and Weirdly Normal: My Adventures in Neurodiversity by Robin Ince, (Pan, Pan Macmillan) Minority Rule: Adventures in the Culture War by Ash Sarkar, (Bloomsbury) Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy, (Hamish Hamilton, Penguin Random House UK) The New Age of Sexism: How the AI Revolution is Reinventing Misogyny by Laura Bates, (Simon & Schuster UK)
a greyscale illustration shows stars, a hand clicking its fingers, a bolt of lightning, a microphone lit brightly, an overflowing vase, and a lighthouse standing proudly
the background shows an orange and red striped sky, with illustrations of hills and houses. Jan Carson can be seen wearing a red necklace and a floral cardigan.
On a vivid yellow, blue and illustrated background is a photograph of Lamorna Ash surrounded by trees, and a photograph of Sasha de Buyl, who is wearing a brown and green coat and glasses.
on a black background hovers a purple and pink moon, next to the cover of Olaf Stapledon's book Star Maker, which sees a white, yellow, pink and purple nebula before a silhouette of a hill with a tree
A photo of people browsing at a previous Radical Book Fair inside The Roxy, an old church. Above it, in white lettering, it says "SEEKING POSTER DESIGNER FOR RADICAL BOOK FAIR 2026!" Below it, there are three posters from previous Radical Book Fairs in 2024, 2023, 2022 and 2025.
a black, blue and grey background shows an archival photo of a car on its side with onlookers pushing bikes. the writing in white in the foreground reads The Future In Our Past
copies of the book The Future in our Past: The General Strike 1926/2026, are spread around a copy of the most recent Scottish Left Review which is illustrated with trade union banners and the title No Scotland Without Us.
A black and gold background shows an urban skyline of skyscrapers. In a corner is a photo of author Hettie O'Brien, and behind Hettie is the cover for her book The Asset Class