Storysmith is an award-winning independent bookshop in South Bristol, stocking a curated selection of fiction, non-fiction and children’s books. We also serve locally roasted coffee, and encourage browsers to linger while enjoying it. We were named Independent Bookshop of the Year for the South West at the British Book Awards in 2023 and again in 2025.
The shop opened in October 2018 at 49 North Street, and after three very happy years in a beautifully idiosyncratic but compact space we moved to our current home at 236 North Street in November 2021. Our shop is precision-designed to make discovering new books as easy as possible for everyone. Everything we stock in the shop is also available to buy online, and for everything else you can put in an order.
We run a busy programme of events in the shop and at select venues in Bristol, as well as working with schools across the city. Authors we are proud to have hosted include Colson Whitehead, Deborah Levy, Percival Everett, Sheila Heti, Olivia Laing, Mariana Enriquez, Richard Powers, Olga Ravn, Neneh Cherry, Vigdis Hjorth, Douglas Stuart, Maggie O’Farrell, Natasha Brown, Michel Faber, Guadalupe Nettel, Polly Barton, Candice Carty-Williams and a whole bunch more.
We collaborate with organisations for external bookselling events, which have seen us setting up mobile bookshops everywhere from End Of The Road Festival to entomology conferences. Our work with schools takes us all over the city and beyond, giving young readers direct access to author events and supporting teachers with curation and book fairs.
Our extensive Lists section will give you a good idea of our tastes and enthusiasms, and if you want a constant stream of good books and coffee delivered to your door then do have a look at our book subscription gifts.
We also have a shop dog named Roy, who you can email by clicking on his face below:
