Book Cover
 

FEB 13  |  6:30pm at McNally Jackson Seaport

Bring Back the Bonkbuster!

831 Stories presents:
a panel on the return of the rompy romance subgenre
with Tyler McCall, Allison P. Davis, Tia Williams, and Sanjana Basker

Choose a book to save your seat:

Comedic Timing by Upasna Barath  - $14.99
Hardly Strangers by A.C. Robinson - $14.99
Big Fan by Alexandra Romanoff - $14.99
A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams - $17.99


Bring Back the Bonkbuster! Bonkbusters are a subgenre of romance novels popular in the 70s and 80s (frequently adapted as miniseries) that feature soapy, salacious melodrama, glamorous settings, and ambitious and financially independent female main characters. Think: Judith Krantz, Jilly Cooper, Jackie Collins. Former PM Rishi Sunak name-checked Jilly Cooper as a favorite author in a 2023 interview, and Rivals, a 2024 Disney+ adaptation of one of her best-selling books, saw both critical and commercial success. As themes of wealth, power, and excess loom large in the public (and political) consciousness, what would it mean for this category to see a revival?

This conversation will explore the cultural impact of these stories as well as their context in the broader romance landscape and consider their relevance in 2024 within shifting social mores and attitudes.


831 Stories is a modern romantic fiction company that prioritizes pleasure reading and celebrates the genre's joyful, enthusiastic fans.


Tyler McCall is a writer based in Brooklyn who covers everything from fashion to pop culture. In addition to reading more romance novels than should be humanly possible, Tyler is the author of The Queen's Guard, an original audio series narrated by Andrew Scott for Quinn, and her byline has appeared in Elle, Town & Country, L'Officiel and more. It should go without saying that Tyler is a Leo.

Allison Davis is writer and screenwriter, currently on staff at New York magazine. She has written for Esquire, GQ, California Sunday, Elle, The Economist, the New York Times, and for TV shows including FX's Fleischmann is in Trouble and Hulu's Tell Me Lies. The Daily Mail once called her "a sexpert" with a "raunchy personality" and a "sex obsession." The description is her crowning achievement, to date.

Tia Williams had a fifteen-year career as a beauty editor for magazines including Elle, Glamour, Teen People, and Essence. In 2004, she pioneered the beauty blog industry with her site Shake Your Beauty. She’s the author of The Accidental Diva, the It Chicks series, and The Perfect Find—now a Netflix film starring Gabrielle Union. Her novel, Seven Days in June, was an instant New York Times bestseller and the June 2021 Reese’s Book Club pick. A TV series adaptation is in development with Will Packer Productions. Her latest bestselling novel, A Love Song for Ricki Wilde, was named one of the year’s best romances by New York Times and Amazon. Tia lives with her family in Brooklyn.

By day, Sanjana Basker is a doctoral student in counseling psychology studying sex, gender, intimacy, and health through a critical feminist lens. By night, she's still a doctoral student, but she's also a romance reader, reviewer, and enthusiast. You can find her work on TikTok, Instagram, Threads and Twitter @baskinsuns and on Substack at Scratch paper.