The Booksellers Association (BA) has announced today that artist, author and illustrator Angela Harding will design this year’s Books Are My Bag Limited-Edition Bag, which will be available exclusively in bookshops across the UK and Ireland from Bookshop Day (Saturday 12 October 2024).
 
                 

 
Living in the UK’s smallest county, Rutland, Angela Harding works from her garden studio in Wing and her studio in Oakham. She has received commissions from most of the UK’s major publishers, including illustrating Simon Armitage’s collection of poems, Blossomise, and creating an illustrated version of Isabella Tree’s bestselling book, Wilding. She has published two books with Sphere, A Year Unfolding in 2021 and Wild Light in 2022, and her new book Still Waves & Wild Waters out on 26 September 2024.
 
Angela’s unique and distinctive style has become recognisable to nature lovers and book lovers alike, gaining her a huge number of fans. For this year’s Limited-Edition Bag, she was inspired by the scenic landscape of Shetland and its iconic otters.
 
Angela Harding said: “I hope book buyers and sellers alike will enjoy this otter design I have done for Books Are My Bag, which I was honoured to have been asked to do. I created the image when I was in Shetland last summer, which is a place of great inspiration for my artwork. I hope I have conveyed the powerful experience of standing by the sea and watching a Shetland otter playing in waves.”
 
Emma Bradshaw, Head of Campaigns at the Booksellers Association, commented: “We’ve been asked by numerous Booksellers Association members to invite Angela to design a Limited-Edition Bag for us, so we were thrilled when she agreed to do so. We know that booksellers and book-lovers alike will be delighted by her beautiful design, and keen to get their hands on the bags. These bags will be flying off the shelves from Saturday 12^th October, so that’s one more reason to make sure you visit your local bookshop on Bookshop Day!
 
Previous Limited-Edition Bags have been created by acclaimed illustrators, artists and designers including Poonam Mistry, Jackie Morris, Dapo Adeola, Charlie Mackesy, Yehrin Tong, Sir Peter Blake, Grayson Perry, Tracey Emin and Orla Kiely.
 
For more information visit www.booksaremybag.com
 
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