Fully booked @ YOKE

Join us this September for Royal William Yard's regular book club - taking place during the Yard's first literary festival. 

'Fully Booked' - run by Jo and Anna - is a chilled book club with a difference. There's no set reading, no pressure. Bring the book you’re currently reading and another you’ve loved. Share recommendations, swap books if you like. Come on your own or with a friend — everyone’s welcome.

WHERE TO MEET

For September’s Fully Booked, we’ll be heading to The Tipple Cellar. Head to Arcade – the collection of independent retailers within the Grade I listed Brewhouse building  - at Plymouth’s Royal William Yard. The Tipple Cellar is Unit 1 and easy to spot.

The Tipple Cellar is a shop that stocks over 500 spirits and fine foods - it also has a speakeasy style lounge with round tables and comfy seats. It's a perfect meeting spot for this month's book club - grab a glass, grab a snack, and enjoy!

READ WRITE YAP

This September, the RWY in Royal William Yard stands for something new. Read, Write, Yap is a brand-new literary festival taking place across the Yard's waterfront spaces and historic buildings throughout the month – a playful, people-led celebration of literature, writing and spoken word. The festival is built around three simple ideas: reading, writing and talking, in whatever form that takes.

Across September, a series of small happenings and drop-in activities will bring the Yard to life with author talks, storytelling sessions, spoken word, craft workshops and a handful of lighter, more unexpected touches – from a blind date with a book stand, to a stick library for dogs!

Read, Write, Yap is intentionally accessible. Whether you're a passionate bookworm, a curious browser, a family with young children or someone who just likes the idea of sitting somewhere beautiful with a good story, there's something here for you.

The festival is also rooted in place and community. Local authors, independent booksellers, spoken word artists and Plymouth-based creatives sit at its heart, and the month closes with a book fair on the last weekend of September – part market, part celebration, the kind of event where you come for one book and leave with five.

Read, Write, Yap launches during the National Year of Reading, a Department for Education initiative that aims to reconnect reading with everyday culture – not as a duty, but as a pleasure. At Royal William Yard, that idea feels right at home.