The Londonist Literary List appears every Tuesday. If you'd like to bring an event to our attention, please email [email protected].
Wednesday
Based on his columns for McSweeny's, Nick Hornby's The Complete Polysyllabic Spree seems rather a lazy excuse for a "meta" book. Hornby (pictured) explores books - what he buys, what he reads and what he doesn't. Oh well, the man's gotta eat - join the polysyllabic discussion tonight as he continues to wax lyrical, with special guests. £5, 6.30pm, The Gallery at Foyles, 2nd Floor, 113-119 Charing Cross Road, 0870 420 2777 for tickets.
Thursday
Helen Dunmore’s poetry collections include The Apple Fall (1983), The Raw Garden (1988) and Short Days, Long Nights: New and Selected Poems (1991) - hear her read a selection here (you'll need the latest version of real player). Tonight's "Helen Dunmore 'Under the Influence' of John Keats'" discusses how modern poets love, know and work directly out of the poetry of their predecessors. £10, 7pm, London Review Bookshop, 14 Bury Place, WC1A 2JL, 020 7420 9895.
More poetry with Tim Liardet, who launches and reads from his latest book of poems, The Blood Choir. He is joined by Fiona Sampson & Pascale Petit, who will be reading from their latest work Poetry Review and The Huntress. 6.30pm, Free but email [email protected] to reserve tickets, The Gallery at Foyles 2nd Floor, 113-119 Charing Cross Road.
Monday
In the spring of 2003, Colin Thubron started at the Tomb of the Yellow Emperor, in the heart of China, and crossed Central Asia, northern Afghanistan, the plains of Iran and Kurdish Turkey to the ancient Mediterranean port of Antioch. Shadow of the Silk Road is his account of this eight-month, 7,000-mile, adventure. He'll also be joined by Tash Aw, whose first novel The Harmony Silk Factory was published last year. 7 pm, Kenneth Clark Lecture Theatre, Courtauld Institute, Somerset House, Strand, more details here.
Neil Gaiman, the writer of The Sandman, Neverwhere and American Gods talks about his new book of short stories Fragile Things, and takes questions from the audience. 7pm, £7/£5, Logan Hall, Institute of Education, 20 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AL, 0845 456 9876.
Coming Up:
Anything but Hackneyed is a local event that aims to bring together famous, not-so-famous, and completely unheard of local writers together. The next event takes place on September 28th from 6-8pm at The Broadway Bookshop, 6 Broadway Market, E8 4QJ, and will feature Hackney authors Iain Sinclair and James Meek. Submit your writing by emailing [email protected] - submissions should be no more than 2,000 words in length.
