In an interview with Simon Warner on his Substack publication, writer [[Jeff Young (writer)|Jeff Young]], recalling the 1970s Liverpool literary scene, described Atticus as “a great shop called Atticus which was like Liverpool’s answer to City Lights”. He noted that [[William S. Burroughs]] had visited the shop for a reading and signing, and that he bought most of his “Beat library” there, crediting the shop with shaping his attitude to life and art.<ref>{{cite web |last=Young |first=Jeff |title=Interview with Jeff Young |url=https://simonwarner.substack.com/p/interview-31-jeff-young |website=Simon Warner Substack |publisher=Simon Warner |date=October 2023 |access-date=11 November 2025 |quote=In the 1970s, it was difficult to find Beat literature in Liverpool, but there was “a great shop called Atticus which was like Liverpool’s answer to City Lights.”}}</ref>
In an interview with Simon Warner on his Substack publication, writer [[Jeff Young (writer)|Jeff Young]], recalling the 1970s Liverpool literary scene, described Atticus as “a great shop called Atticus which was like Liverpool’s answer to City Lights”. He noted that [[William S. Burroughs]] had visited the shop for a reading and signing, and that he bought most of his “Beat library” there, crediting the shop with shaping his attitude to life and art.<ref>{{cite web |last=Young |first=Jeff |title=Interview with Jeff Young |url=https://simonwarner.substack.com/p/interview-31-jeff-young |website=Simon Warner Substack |publisher=Simon Warner |date=October 2023 |access-date=11 November 2025 |quote=In the 1970s, it was difficult to find Beat literature in Liverpool, but there was “a great shop called Atticus which was like Liverpool’s answer to City Lights.”}}</ref>
=== Hardman Street Era (1978–1990s) ===
=== Hardman Street Era (1978–1990s) ===
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Independent bookshop in Liverpool and Lancaster, England
Atticus Books is an independent bookshop originally founded in Liverpool in 1974 by Tom Flemons. Known for its literary events and countercultural stock, it became a meeting place for writers, artists, and musicians. The shop later relocated to Lancaster, where it continues to operate as a not-for-profit community bookshop.
Founding and Early Years (1974–1978)
[edit]
Atticus Books opened in 1974 when Tom Flemons took over the lease of an upstairs café called The Masque on Clarence Street, Liverpool, above the record shop Probe Records.[1] Having previously worked at Collets Bookshop on Charing Cross Road and the Anglican Bookshop Mowbrays on Margaret Street in London, Flemons combined radical and traditional bookselling experience when establishing Atticus.
The shop specialised in modern and contemporary fiction, with a focus on American paperbacks, which Flemons sourced directly to avoid delays between British hardback and paperback editions.[1] His ability to identify remaindered and out-of-print titles made Atticus popular with students, academics, and musicians drawn to Beat literature and avant-garde writing.[1]
A local chess group met in the shop in the evenings and eventually became the Atticus Chess Club, which remains active in Liverpool.[2]
In an interview with Simon Warner on his Substack publication, writer Jeff Young, recalling the 1970s Liverpool literary scene, described Atticus as “a great shop called Atticus which was like Liverpool’s answer to City Lights”. He noted that William S. Burroughs had visited the shop for a reading and signing, and that he bought most of his “Beat library” there, crediting the shop with shaping his attitude to life and art.[3]
Hardman Street Era (1978–1990s)
[edit]
In 1978, Atticus moved to 43 Hardman Street, a more central location in Liverpool.[1] The new premises became a gathering place for the city’s literary and artistic community. Regulars included Jeff Young, Dave Calder and Dave Ward of The Windows Project, Adrian Henri, Carol Ann Duffy, Sylvia Hikins, and Ramsey Campbell.[1]
The shop hosted readings and signings by visiting writers and performers including William S. Burroughs, John Cage, Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Michael Horovitz, Brian Patten, and Gilbert Shelton. Local figures such as Ken Campbell, Roger Eagle, and Jayne Casey were also known to visit.[1]
A 1994 article in The Independent described the Hardman Street location as “a tiny second-hand book and record shop … always worth a look”, noting its distinctive front display featuring a James Joyce cut-out.[4]
Atticus was part of Liverpool’s wider network of independent cultural organisations, including Bluecoat Chambers and the feminist collective News from Nowhere.[1] In the 1980s, the shop began to focus on second-hand books. A cardboard cut-out of James Joyce by designer Geoff Johnson became its emblem, and Jill McArdle joined to help run the shop and organise events.[1]
Lancaster Expansion and Later Years (1990s–2001)
[edit]
In the 1990s, a second Atticus shop opened in Lancaster, managed by Tom Flemons, while McArdle continued to run the Liverpool branch.[1] The Lancaster shop hosted literary and arts events including ghost story competitions and DaDaFests. During this period, writer and broadcaster Ian Marchant worked in the shop.[1]
The Lancaster branch closed in 2001 when Flemons left to take a position promoting arts events in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent libraries, later studying at the SOAS.[1]
Revival and Music Era (2010–present)
[edit]
Between 2010 and 2014, Flemons’ son Kit ran the shop as Atticus Accordions, a music store that collaborated with the Lancaster Music Festival. The band The Lovely Eggs performed there during the first festival in 2010.[5]
In 2014, Tom Flemons returned to reopen Atticus in Lancaster as a not-for-profit bookshop supporting the Tasikoki Wildlife Rescue Centre in Indonesia, where he had volunteered.[1] Since then, the shop has continued to host readings, performances, and exhibitions, maintaining its role as a small cultural venue.[1]
In 2024, Flemons suffered a stroke and the shop temporarily closed before reopening in 2025.[1]
Atticus Books has been described as a cornerstone of Liverpool’s and Lancaster’s literary counterculture, comparable to San Francisco’s City Lights Bookstore.[1] It has played a role in shaping the intellectual and creative life of Merseyside and North Lancashire across five decades.
In Ghost Town: A Liverpool Shadowplay (2021), Jeff Young recalled Atticus as “a destination in your imaginal map of the city … a place of bookish atmosphere that smells of coffee, where Debussy plays quietly on the radio.”[6]
