Blarney Books & art, Port Fairy, VIC

BLARNEY BOOKS is located in a 1920’s Masonic Hall, in the historic seaside village of Port Fairy (trust us, the building is much more attractive when viewed from the inside! In January 2005, we opened the bookshop. It’s gone through some transformations since that time! Remind me to post a photographic timeline of the changes sometime... The amount of books seems to increase by the minute, but we are quite selective with the stock and hope that this shows in what’s on the shelves. Children are catered for with their own section, complete with sparkly pink train tracks, cool fish tank and dress-ups. For everyone else, there are comfortable leather couches, chairs & tables, a chess board, a piano. There is indeed something for everybody here. We are also happy to host events - book launches, author talks, book club meetings, and other activities.) The wheelbarrow of books for the Annual Biblio-Art competition! In 2008 we added an art space to the bookshop, and became Blarney Books & Art. In 2009 we came up with a new annual art competition for artists, called the Blarney Books Biblio-Art Award. Artists select a book from a list (or out of a wheelbarrow) and create an artwork inspired by that book. The exhibition that results from this competition is opened over the June long weekend. Guest judges are invited to select the winner ($1500 Grand Prize). This competition is growing in popularity quickly, and is lots of fun for all involved! (Subscribe to our website to stay informed.) Aside from this, we have a continually changing series of exhibitions, and there are all sorts of other artworks, gift cards, etc., to be found throughout our shop. Do come and visit us! We are not your average secondhand bookshop!