Michael Grieve for Asterism

Michael Grieve is coming to Topping & Company Booksellers on Thursday 11 February 2027, to present his debut collection, Asterism. It's a poetry reading in the shop, with Grieve as the sole feature of the evening.

Asterism is edited by Don Patterson and published by And Other Stories. The poems are described as short, sideways-glimpsed fictions that explore human experience, fallibility and forgiveness. If you're not familiar with the term, an asterism is a small group of stars that form a recognisable pattern—not a full constellation, but a distinct shape within one—which fits the description of these short, focused pieces.

Grieve comes to the night with a few different hats on his head. He's a poet, a teacher, and a former bookseller with Topping & Company's St Andrews branch, so he knows his way around a bookshop. He was shortlisted for the 2020 Edwin Morgan Prize, and his pamphlet Luck was published by HappenStance. His work has also appeared in journals like The Little Review, The Dark Horse and The Irish Pages, so Asterism marks his first full collection.

The reading is at The Bookshop, 1 Museum Street, York YO7 7DT. It starts at 7pm, with doors open from 6.30pm.