Fresh this Week:
Amr Gharbeia and Hari Kunzru consider the internet as a space for free expression and censorship at this event tonight. Amr Gharbeia is a leading Egyptian blogger, currently facing a legal campaign to block his website along with other blogs and human rights sites in Egypt. Hari Kunzru's novels and non-fiction engage with the theme of new technology and his recent writing highlights the complexities of internet censorship as a source both of protection and prosecution. Thursday 12 July, 7.45pm, £8.50, Southbank Centre, see website for details.
Just out the Van:
Tonight Armistead Maupin is in town to talk about his work for the first time in seven years... Michael Tolliver fans unite! July 12, 7pm, £7/£5, UCL Bloomsbury Theatre, 15 Gordon Street. Tickets 0845 456 9876.
In Next Week
Spin meister / strategist Alastair Campbell reads from his new book The Blair Years: Extracts from the Alastair Campbell Diaries at this, the only London event. On Tony and Iraq: "All of us I think had had pretty severe moments of doubt, but he hadn't really, or if he had he'd hidden them even from us." On Diana: "She's standing there absolutely, spellbindingly, drop-dead gorgeous, in a way that the millions of photos didn't quite get." And on the Hutton Report: "It was only a passing thought, but it was there, and it came back several times as I drove down to Marseilles. I knew I had done nothing wrong, but in this climate, things had gone beyond reason, it was like a drama or a novel, and nobody had control of events."
Next Friday, 19th June (Demand for this event will be high - so book early), £7.50/£5, 7.30pm, Institute of Education, Tickets: 0870 420 2777.
Givin’ ‘em away:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows party. Piccadilly Waterstones. 9pm. Next Friday. Nuff Said.
The Book Grocer is away next week. If you'd like to bring an event to our attention, please email [email protected].
