Welcome (or Welcome back!) to Citadel Books. I’m Alan Spence, Edinburgh’s Makar (or Poet Laureate) and I’ve been running the wee shop with my wife Janani for three years now. Here’s a link to an interview I did for Scottish Review of Books around the time we opened.
https://www.scottishreviewofbooks.org/free-content/scotlands-bookshops-citadel-books-edinburgh/
The shop is small, but packed with quality items – a mix of new and good secondhand – and everyone comments on the special atmosphere that’s been created, a sense of lightness and peace. There’s a great range of titles covering fiction, biography, history and politics, music, travel and Scotland, with particularly good sections on poetry and fine art, meditation and the spiritual life.
There’s a good selection of books by Sri Chinmoy as well as a prominent display of my own works (which I’m happy to sign!)
For the collector, we have a couple of shelves of rare items – first editions (including signed copies), limited editions and Folio titles.
In addition, there are books that are just unclassifiable, all with that indefinable magic.
My friend the artist Alison Watt said it felt ‘curated’ and that was what gave it its special quality.
Here’s a link to the twitter feed she posted after her first visit.
My wonderful friend, poet Alan Spence has opened a bookshop on Montrose Terrace. If you love books, share & visit ! pic.twitter.com/FwnAi0K4zf
— Alison Watt (@alisonjfwatt) September 4, 2017
We have a wee sign in the window which reads: COME ON IN. WE MIGHT JUST HAVE IT!
So yes, come on in. You never know what you might find.
Alan Spence