Join us during Independent Bookshop Week for an evening with award winning writer and mentor Adam Farrer as talks about his bold, witty and tender book, Broken Biscuits: And Other Male Failures.
Broken Biscuits vividly recounts Adam’s struggles to live up to masculine expectations, real or imagined. From the calamity of his first serious relationship to an obsession with Prince that sees everyone questioning his sexuality, and from the repercussions of his adult circumcision to his doubts about his ability to survive the apocalypse, this candid and personal collection of essays is astonishingly far-reaching and riotously funny.
Holding up a mirror to Adam’s own body image, his relationship with his family, his sense of self-worth and the mortifying experience of arriving at a teenage party wearing strawberry-patterned short shorts, this book is about growing up and trying to define yourself as a man but somehow always missing the mark.
Broken Biscuits was one of our Non-Fiction Books of the Month in 2025. With the book now published in paperback, we’re delighted to welcome Adam to Oswestry as part of our Indpendent Bookshop Week Celebrations.
Reviews:
‘A splendid book, to be cherished by anyone with a funny bone. I loved it.’ Daily Mail
‘I love everything about these essays, from Adam’s willingness to be open about life, love, family and his nether regions, to his innate ability as a storyteller. Broken Biscuits made me laugh out loud and then properly cry.’ Jennie Godfrey
‘Adam writes like he knows me, the tiniest things he recalls uncover huge truths that resonate even now. I loved it.’ Justin Moorhouse
‘A bold new voice in nonfiction writing.’ Jenn Ashworth
‘Writing with such intimacy and ease, Farrer has crafted a brilliant collection of essays, by turns tender, disarmingly honest and achingly funny.’ Tawseef Khan
‘It will make you cry with laughter.’ Miranda France
Adam Farrer
Adam Farrer is an award-winning writer, mentor and editor and currently works at the University of Salford, where he is the Writer in Residence for Peel Park. He has taught creative nonfiction and life writing at the University of Lancaster and extensively at retreats, literary festivals and prisons.
His writing has appeared in numerous publications, including The Guardian, Metro, Hinterland and Test Signal (Bloomsbury/Dead Ink, 2021). Specialising in personal essays that use humour to tackle challenging subject matter, his writing has been praised by The TLS, The Mail on Sunday and Publishers Weekly. He is the author of two personal essay collections, Cold Fish Soup (Saraband, 2022), winner of the Northbound Book Award, and Broken Biscuits and Other Male Failures (HarperNorth, 2025) and edits the creative nonfiction journal The Real Story.
Tickets: £10 (includes a paperback copy of Broken Biscuits)