A key part of every Bookshop Day (this year, Saturday 12th October) is the Books Are My Bag Limited-Edition Bag. This year’s bag is designed by the wonderful author and illustrator Angela Harding.
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.”