New Exchange x Blacklore book club bringing readers together this autumn
Brummie book lovers will be able to gather together in the Vaults of The Exchange for a new book club exploring themes from mental health to the environment.
Booktober is returning to The Exchange this October, with a new book club being set up for the avid readers of Birmingham.
Hosted by the University of Birmingham, the book club session will be run by Birmingham creative and BookTok-er, Lyza Lawal, also known as Blacklore to her tens of thousands of followers.
The book club will consist of four separate sessions, focusing on four books written by people of colour, that reflect on the core themes of this year’s Exchange public programme: Our Health, Our Young People, Our Environment, and Our Money.
I am delighted to host the first Exchange book club. Reading offers us an opportunity to explore different perspectives and experiences internally, and then sharing our thoughts and discussing what we learnt allows us to expand our thinking and understanding even further.
Lyza Lawal, founder of Blacklore, will facilitate the Exchange book club.
The books are:
- Rootless by Krystle Zara Appiah (Our Health) – Saturday 4 October, 1:30-3pm
- There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak (Our Environment) – Wednesday 8 October, 6-7:30pm
- Allow Me to Introduce Myself by Onyi Nwabineli (Our Young People) – Saturday 18 October, 1:30-3pm
- We Need to Talk About Money by Otegha Uwagba (Our Money) – Wednesday 5 November, 6:45-8pm
Lyza Lawal said: "I am delighted to host the first Exchange book club. Reading offers us an opportunity to explore different perspectives and experiences internally, and then sharing our thoughts and discussing what we learnt allows us to expand our thinking and understanding even further. Reading is such an important part of my platform and my life, so I am looking forward to discussing these picks with attendees and hearing their various viewpoints and more!”
We’re so excited to launch The Exchange Book Club this October. It’s a chance to discover new authors, share ideas and experiences through conversation and connect with fellow book lovers.
Sessions will take place once per week throughout October and into the beginning of November 2025. Each session will have the capacity for 25 people and cost £5 per tickets, with limited free Solidarity tickets available.
Laura Milner, Head of Public Programmes at the University of Birmingham, said: “We’re so excited to launch The Exchange Book Club this October. It’s a chance to discover new authors, share ideas and experiences through conversation and connect with fellow book lovers. Through The Exchange public programme this year, we're exploring themes inspired by the University of Birmingham’s groundbreaking research over the past 125 years, and each book has been chosen to reflect one of those themes. We’re thrilled to be working with Lyza to bring these conversations to life.”
Notes for editors
Notes for editors
- For media inquiries please contact Ellie Hail, Communications Officer, University of Birmingham on +44 (0)7966 311 409. Out-of-hours, please call +44 (0) 121 414 2772.
- The University of Birmingham is ranked amongst the world’s top 100 institutions. Its work brings people from across the world to Birmingham, including researchers, teachers and more than 8,000 international students from over 150 countries.