A happy Bank Holiday Monday to you, friends! Can’t bring yourselves to leave the flat and venture out in this stormy weather? Neither can we. But really, we appreciate whatever excuse we can use to dip into the ever-growing pile of books on our bedside table. A look at the week ahead in literary London:
Tuesday: Booker-shortlisted author Tim Winton will at the Australian High Commission for the launch of his latest novel, Breath, a “meditation on surfing which becomes a rumination about the very stuff of existence”. 6.30pm, free, but e-mail [email protected] to RSVP, for security reasons. Nothing says “I am a committed bibliophile” like being frisked to attend a reading!
Wednesday: Siri Hustvedt, whom the Guardian calls one half of New York’s “most cultish literary couple” (the other half being Paul Auster), will be at the Rutherford Theatre in this Blackwells-sponsored event to celebrate the publication of her latest novel, The Sorrows of an American. Initial reviews of Hustvedt’s follow-up to the acclaimed What I Loved have been favourable, although the Telegraph’s assessment – “Updike in high heels” – might scare the kiddies. 7pm, £8/£6 concessions.
Thursday: It’s the last Thursday of the month, which means ... Book Slam! This month with Toby Litt, Andreya Triana, and Kat Francois. It’s “clubbing for grown-ups”, but don’t let that stop you if, like us, you still tend to think of yourself as a fifteen-year-old. At Neighbourhood, doors open 6.30pm, tickets £8/advance or concessions, £6.
Friday: May 2008: the 40th anniversary of the events of May 1968 (we’re genius at maths) and the 20th anniversary of the publication of ’68, ’78, ’88: From Women’s Liberation to Feminism, an anthology which in turn commemorated the 1968 events through the prism of 35 different women’s voices. Housmans brings together the anthology’s editor, Amanda Sebestyen, and several of its contributors to reflect on the state of feminism, now and then. 7pm, free.
Saturday: Is there any subject better suited to the graphic novel treatment than rock? And any band better than the Sex Pistols to prove so? We doubt it. Steve Parkhouse and Jim McCarthy will be at Forbidden Planet to sign copies of Sex Pistols: The Graphic Biography today, from 1 to 2pm.
And since you’ll be in the neighbourhood, and because you’re such lovely well-rounded people with incredibly eclectic interests, why not swing over to the Waterstone’s at Covent Garden to take A Walk on the Wilde Side? The hour-long walk, hosted by Gyles Brandreth, author of Oscar Wilde and the Ring of Death, will take you on a tour of London as Wilde might have seen it. Free tickets are available from the store; tours leave at 11.30am and 3.00pm.
Know of an event that belongs in the Book Grocer listings? Please e-mail us at londonist-at-gmail-dot-com. Or leave a comment below!
Wildean wisdom courtesy of steve_w’s Flickrstream via the Creative Commons Attribution license
