Bookbag is an independent bookshop in Exeter, located in McCoys Arcade in the city’s indy West Quarter. Since opening in 2020, we’ve curated a selection of fiction, non-fiction, children’s books, nature writing, art titles, poetry, and zines with a focus on local and global stories, writers of colour, women’s voices, and LGBTQ+ books.

Bookbag is a welcoming space with a strong community ethos. We host author events, book launches, poetry nights, and co-produce the Echoes festival.

We’ve also run creative projects like Poems For Hope & The City (2023), a city-wide display of poetry, and Fore Street Stories (2024), a writing residency that paired young people with local businesses, cafés, and indie shops in our neighbourhood.

Now approaching our fifth year, we are so grateful to everyone who supports and sustains us by buying or ordering a book, a subscription, or by attending one of our events.