Yerbury spoke to James Sandoval about her creative upbringing, the authors she champions and her experience of starting a business on Fish Island.
James: Tell me about yourself. Where did you grow? What was family life like?
Agatha: I was born on a chicken farm outside Reading, in Newbury. My dad was always creative. He installed a recording studio on the farm and was always making music. My mum went into teaching and was a special needs teacher and Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) for many years.
My family life was always obsessed with music, books and theatre. That was true of the wider family as well. My uncle Peter was an English teacher and used to wax lyrical over Hemingway over a bottle of whisky back in the day.
We left the farm when I was quite young and I grew up on the outskirts of Bath, in the countryside. For some reason, I decided I was going to study law. I think having a very entrepreneurial father made me decide to go for the non-entrepreneurial route and get a day job.
I studied law and worked as a lawyer for quite a long time, although I was only in a law firm for about two years. I decided the City was not for me and went in-house. I did a six-month internship at MTV, worked for the BBC and then worked at Discovery, now Warner Bros Discovery, for a long time. Reading, music, theatre, arts and culture were always a big part of my life, but they were my hobby and escape rather than the day job.
James: What was it like to set up Fish Island Books? What was the inspiration?
Agatha: I had been thinking for a while about wanting to create my own space and environment. I sat on the board of Camden People’s Theatre for many years. That was great in terms of seeing what a location-based arts organisation, supporting artists and creating pathways into the arts, could really do.
It took me a while to realise it was a bookshop, which is funny because books have always been my escape and bookshops have always been my happy place. A lot of people in London are lonely and a lot of my friends had said they were struggling to make connections. At some point, it all came together and I realised a bookshop is a phenomenal place to build community, share my passion for books and support artists.
James: Which authors or genres are you excited to feature in your collection today?
Agatha: One of the best things about having a bookshop is being able to celebrate voices and stories you are interested in. I try to focus on independent publishers and debut authors, and I have a soft spot for local authors.
Earlier this year, I held an event with Alex Cadis, who wrote her debut novel, Big Nobody, and I am still championing that book. It is set in Walthamstow in the 1970s, in a Greek Cypriot community. My regulars know I have a penchant for dark stories. It starts with a teenage girl who has lost her mother and brothers and believes her father is responsible, so she calls him the fat murderer and plots her revenge. But it is very funny. Darkly comic is definitely a genre for me.
I also have a poet, Amelia Ryan, coming at the end of September. She has written a poetry pamphlet and turned it into a one-woman show, which is stand-up and poetry. It is her first poetry pamphlet and her first show, and she is local to Victoria Park.
James: What’s the secret to finding and treasuring a good book? There are so many to choose from – and so many digital distractions.
Agatha: When I agreed to open in two weeks, I had to select about 1,500 books that I thought people would be interested in. I started with a data-driven approach. I looked at the bestsellers and what was selling particularly in east London, compiled a list and then realised I did not really like most of the books.
I threw all that in the bin and went with books I had read and enjoyed, and authors I wanted to support. I read a lot of proofs. For other people, come into the bookshop and have a chat. It is a very curated selection, but I still think there is something for everyone. Booksellers are by far the best people to help you cut through the noise and find something that works for you.
Being part of a community means I am beginning to learn what my regulars like and can recommend books from that. Sometimes I still get it wrong. There will be book club books I am convinced one person will absolutely love, and they will be the one person who was not so into it.
James: You tried to secure a retail location just a few steps from Unlock, where Fish Island Books is currently based, right?
Agatha: I started two years ago trying to find a space. I was determined to open in Hackney Wick or Fish Island. I saw all the vacant units and thought, ‘How hard can this be?’ Having worked in my day job for many years, I had built up a bit of capital and naively thought a community bookshop, with some capital behind it, would appeal to landlords.
It took probably nine months before I could get any agent to call me back. I eventually agreed heads of terms with Peabody for premises and invested a lot of money in that. About nine months later, they decided they did not want to proceed with the lease. I am now in a position where that capital was used on a property I did not get to lease, so I do not have it to spend somewhere else.
None of the empty premises is ready to move into today. A lot do not have air conditioning, which would be a huge investment. Most independent businesses do not have a six-figure sum to put into air conditioning in buildings that were only built four or five years ago.
James: Are you running Fish Island Books solo or do you have team members helping you?
Agatha: I have a collection of friends, or friends of friends, who help me out. When I first started, it was just me. I was consulting three days a week and working in the bookshop for the other four.
After three months, I realised working seven days a week was not sustainable, even if all those days involved doing something I love. It is also nice to have different viewpoints. Otherwise, it is entirely my taste, which on one level is great, but it is nice to have fresh eyes, ears and input.
James: What’s your approach to business partners and partnerships? Are there any partners you’d like to call out as amazing, caring, super helpful?
Agatha: The Unlock team picked me up off the floor when I thought I had completely lost the bookshop dream. I had no more capital and they welcomed me in. What is really important is having the same values, goals and objectives. We may have different approaches, but we all want the same thing, which is to build community around art and, in their case, food as well.
If you have shared values, you can figure everything else out. A massive shout-out to the Unlock team. Fish Island Books literally would not exist without them.
The Wick has also been a fantastic partner and really supportive. Jeremy at the Fish Island Village Residents’ Association has been a good sounding board and a very kind supporter.
James: What does Hackney Wick and Fish Island mean to you today – especially given your view from a local business operator?
Agatha: My brother lived in Hackney Wick from about 2010 for a good few years, so we used to come to some of these warehouses long before they were residential flats. I have seen the area through a lot of change and I have lived in my flat for 12 years.
I love the creative community. The reason I wanted to have a bookshop here was because I think it is one of the few remaining enclaves in London where there are still a lot of independent creative businesses and like-minded people. It has been nice getting to know more of the Fish Island and Hackney Wick communities through people coming into the bookshop.
There are not enough community spaces where people can come together. There are fantastic places to go for a drink, but finding places where you can connect that are not about partying is harder. If you are looking for a connection or a deeper conversation around authors or literary themes, it is nice to see that slowly building.
James: What would you recommend to someone who wants to start a business?
Agatha: I do not think there has been a harder time in my lifetime to start a business, with the current headwinds. That said, you need to know exactly what you want to do, who your audience is, whether there is actually an audience and whether what you are building will serve that audience.
Prepare for the unexpected and be prepared to embrace opportunities that are not exactly what you thought you wanted, but which present themselves. That flexibility and willingness to pivot are important. You need to know when to shift from something that is not serving you to another opportunity, rather than continuing doggedly on the original path.
James: Tell me a couple of things you love about Hackney Wick, Fish Island or the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park? Got any favourite restaurants, cafés, watering holes, workout spots, or spaces to just relax?
Agatha: I am obsessed with the little chocolate cookie at Bakery 4. I love INIS. I think it is phenomenal and what they have done there is great. I recommend it to people from all parts of London when they ask what my favourite restaurant is.
I am very excited that the Yard Theatre has just reopened. I have tickets to see Ian McKellen in Lear in December, which is unbelievable that they are bringing him here. There are so many fantastic businesses here.
James: What would you like readers to see in their minds eye when they hear about Fish Island Books?
Agatha: A light, bright place filled with interesting and unusual new books to be discovered and likeminded folks up for a chat.