FIONOLA MEREDITHchecks out a Belfast bookstore with a difference
ITS A WINTRY night in Belfast, and the streets are bleak and rain-swept. But inside a bookshop on Botanic Avenue, a spotlight is shining on songwriter Isobel Anderson, as she plays the guitar and sings a haunting song about Cornish mermaids and choirboys. The small audience – sandwiched comfortably between shelves full of crime fiction, Irish poetry and the odd unorthodox recipe book – is entranced.
This is just one of many intimate gigs put on by the owner of No Alibis bookstore, David Torrans, in recent months. International musicians such as Stephen Fearing, Brooks Williams and Sara McQuade have packed the little shop out. And last March, Torrans was delighted to welcome a giant of the alternative folk scene: Willy Vlautin, front man of the Oregon-based band Richmond Fontaine. But what Torrans likes most is giving local musicians a space to perform. “That’s one of the most enthralling things, the way young talent has come through, from violinist Ruby Colley to Cat Malojian, one of the most inventive bands in the country.”
Each performance is captured by film-maker Paul McParland, and high-quality clips are uploaded on to the No Alibis YouTube channel.
Hosting gigs was a natural progression for Torrans; he believes there is “a beautiful synchronicity between music and reading”. But it was also a necessity: “We’re doing this for our survival. It has become part of the business – people expect it.” Yet bureaucracy has intervened: Belfast City Council has insisted that Torrans applies for a prohibitively costly entertainment licence if he wants to keep his musical evenings.
No Alibis, which first opened 13 years ago, is Northern Ireland's only specialist crime book store – although it also sells all kinds of fiction and non-fiction. It offers a warm personal welcome, a steaming mug of coffee (and maybe a slice of home-made cake too, if Torrans's partner Claudia Edelmann, who runs the shop alongside him, has been baking) and an eclectic selection of books. The walls are hung with an original series of paintings by Neil Shawcross, all in homage to "noir" illustrators from the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s – from Perry Mason and the Case of the Restless Redheadto The Lady Came to Kill.Most importantly of all, Torrans is on hand, ready to share his extensive knowledge of the books he sells.
For all his love of music, Torrans never forgets that words are his bread and butter. He has interviewed John Banville, in his persona of Benjamin Black – “he was very funny and open with his answers” – and welcomed author John Connolly back to the shop last year: “Connolly is a literary livewire, and he brings an energy and vibrancy to his talks that very few authors have.” Torrans has also twice brought the “demon dog” of American crime fiction James Ellroy to Belfast: “He was great, so relaxed, just gabbing away a new pair of shoes he’d bought.”
Oddly enough, Torrans has been the subject of an unsolicited fictionalisation. Colin Bateman’s Mystery Man series features a bookseller who owns a shop called No Alibis on Botanic Avenue – a development that Torrans describes as “unnerving”.
As for the future, Torrans is quietly optimistic. Undaunted by the rise of the e-book – “how can an author sign a Kindle?” – he says that as long as the people keep coming, he’ll be there. “They come in as customers, but they’re more than that. They keep this place going, and they know who they are.”
noalibis.com
