Brixton Market provides a window into stories from every continent. 

As I enter, I notice a waiter at a Columbian restaurant speaking excitedly in Spanish to a baby in a buggy, an older woman with a short wig haggling over the price of yam at a Ghanaian food shop and two Middle Eastern men with canes considering the price of fish.

After weaving around a couple corners, I begin to hear soulful R&B. I look up and see that it’s coming from a shop with a sky-blue façade that I soon realise is Round Table Books (RTB). I stroll in, a few minutes ahead of my scheduled interview.

Jasmina Bidé is helping a young Black mother buy some books for her child. After they settle on the perfect choice, a classic by Jamaica Kincaid, another customer comes in – a man who’s pretty sure he pre-ordered a book about Haile Selassie… but can’t remember what it’s called.