Square One

SQUARE ONE: the darker side of the Swinging Sixties

HOT NEWS!

I’m proud and delighted to be invited to the Aberford Literary Festival in Yorkshire on June 21st 2026, for which my innocent jottings of yesteryear, a novel titled Square One about the raw realities of being a pop group in the 1960s, has been republished and is available on Amazon as an ebook, paperback or hardback.

Here’s the link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Square-One-Robin-Squire/dp/183530883X/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0

I’m to be interviewed at the Festival by the redoubtable Chris Berry, himself no mean wielder of the pen, and find myself in truly august company for this wonderful event.

Here is the programme for the Aberford Literary Festival:

ABERFORD LITERATURE FESTIVAL 19-21 JUNE 2026     

FRIDAY  19 JUNE 2026    Doors Open 6pm                             

7 pm           Drama Writing    John Godber  

One of UK’s most performed playwrights, Up ‘n’ Under/Bouncers/Teechers

8 pm           Q&A with John Godber

8.30pm       Aberford Authors Drama Collective 

Performances of new radio dramas

The Wake & The Accident

SATURDAY 20 JUNE   Doors Open Midday

1 pm        Children’s Authors – Interactive Sessions

A MUST FOR PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN

Peter J Murray   Mokee Joe (book series)

Simon Murray    Icky Doo Dah (book series)

3 pm        Youth Author – Interactive Session

Linda Jones  Fistful of Feathers (award winning)

4.30 pm    Literary History – The Brontes

With a Free Bit of Fizz!

Sharon Wright & Ann Dinsdale   ‘The Bronte House Detectives’

6 pm         Poetry Workshop

Suzannah Evans   Award Winning Poet

7.30pm      Murder Mystery Social Evening

Organised by Aberford Autors

Aberford Authors, Aberford Youth Authors

Guest Speakers and Everyone!

SUNDAY  21 JUNE   Doors Open Midday

1 pm         Adult Fiction Authors

Wes Markin   DCI Yorke & Yorkshire Murders series

Maria Frankland   Psychological thrillers

With a Free Bit of Fizz!

Yvonne Battle Felton   Award winning  horror ‘Curdle Creek’

Robin Squire   1968 classic ‘Square One’ rereleased

4pm         Q&A / Author Signings

SUNDAY EVENING

6 pm         ALF Awards 2026

 Presentations to Junior Authors, Youth

Authors, Aberford Authors, Library

Authors & Villagers

 7.30 pm     Publishing – How It Can Work By Yourself

 Maria Frankland leads a session telling how she has made it work!

 ALL SESSIONS TO BE HELD IN ABERFORD VILLAGE HALL UNTIL THE SUNDAY EVENING – WHEN WE WILL MOVE DOWN TO THE ARABIAN HORSE

ALL WORKS OF ABERFORD JUNIOR AUTHORS & ABERFORD YOUTH AUTHORS WILL BE ON DISPLAY IN THE VILLAGE HALL THROUGHOUT THE WEEKEND FROM FRIDAY TO SUNDAY

Teas/Coffees, biscuits, cakes to be available to purchase throughout the weekend in the Village Hall

ALL EVENTS TO BE LISTED ON EVENTBRITE

TICKETS AVAILABLE FOR ALL SESSIONS ARE FREE EXCEPT CHARGES FOR

John Godber & Bronte House Detectives

YOU CAN ORDER YOUR TICKETS FOR SOME EVENTS RIGHT NOW

About the original edition of Square One:

In the long ago, when the world was in black and white and the Beatles were young, I wrote Square One, first published by W.H. Allen & Co. in London. New English Library issued it in paperback.

Deglamourising

Taken from the real-life experiences of an ex-manager of a group called ‘The Cyan Three’, it tells the gritty tale of a photographer who forms a pop group in hope of fame, but has to swallow strong doses of reality as his every effort to get the lads gigs and, ultimately, a recording contract, is met with by setbacks. Time Out ran a review which called it ‘one of the better books about pop’ – possibly because it deglamourised that world and showed it for what it more usually is – a struggle in which dreams get a kicking and ambition a roasting. Reading it again after all this time I was struck by what those lads went through, the seedy changing rooms, miles and miles of driving in a rattly van, the groupies, the fights, the wild hopes, the unquenchable spirit.

Paul McCartney and Square One

Director Val Guest wanted to make a film of Square One, with his neighbour in St. John’s Wood, Paul McCartney, standing by to write the song in the book which amazes audiences everywhere yet somehow goes unrecognised. However, when the guy who was to have directed a film with Olivia Newton-John, titled Toomorrow, had a car accident and Val was called in, not wanting to do two films about pop he put Square One on one side and it has languished ever since.

How funny it would be to make a film of it now, set in the late 1960s when BBC’s Radio 1 was new, and have Macca write the song at last!

Read extracts from Square One HERE

Square One is out of print, but secondhand copies can still be found.

You can order my other books from the website of my agent HERE. Click on the drop down menu below the Robin Squire page.

Readers’ Comments on Square One

A few used copies of this book are still available on Amazon. I was interested to see these two customer comments:

Hey ho…

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Read EXTRACTS from Robin Squire’s books

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