Pardon. The book grocer got some sun this weekend. We find that there’s an inverse relationship between our hours of sun exposure and our ability to talk books. Do you think the connection between weather and literary prowess could explain Britain’s many achievements in this field? Just wondering...
Monday: The Bedford Park Festival kicked off a few days ago, and we’re liking its literary offerings. Tonight brings us Wilde at Heart, a two-act play about the life, loves and work of Oscar Wilde (7.30pm, £15/£7.50 concessions).
Also on: Wood Green’s Big Green Bookshop sponsors a week of events devoted to crime writing. The line-up for tonight features Cathi Unsworth and Danny King (6.30pm, free).
Tuesday: So about that Big Green Bookshop: We popped in to check out this new addition to the proliferating ranks of London’s independent booksellers a few months back after being thoroughly charmed by its engaging blog, recounting the adventures of Tim West and Simon Key, formerly of the Wood Green Waterstone’s, as they set out to open their own shop following the shuttering of the chain store. We were reminded of what a Herculean task small business owners face, and we made it our mission to herald the virtues of the little store. And then, ahem, maybe we got too much sun that next weekend. Anyway. “Big” is perhaps a bit tongue-in-cheek, but it is green, and we suggest that you check it out. Tonight even, for Gaslight Vices, a celebration of historical fiction, featuring Lee Jackson, RN Morris, Andrew Martin and Frank Tallis (6.30pm, free).
Wednesday: In the Bedford Park Festival’s Only My Dreams, Edna O’Brien reflects on and reads from the work of William Butler Yeats (7.30pm, £7.50). With accompanying music, it all sounds so very refined. Except for the literary quiz round – then the more competitive among us throw tantrums and start tossing volumes of the Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature at each other’s heads.
Thursday: Irvine Welsh at the Guardian Newsroom is probably our top pick for this evening. Welsh will be discussing Trainspotting with UCL’s John Mullan as part of the Guardian’s Book Club series (6.30pm, £8). Competing for our attention, however, is Stewart Home at Housmans, in a “trippy night of occultism, sex and London psychogeography” (7pm, free).
Also on: James Orbinski, former international president of Medecins Sans Frontieres and author of the newly published An Imperfect Offering, will be at the RSA to discuss humanitarianism in the 21st century (1pm, free); Alison Joseph and LC Tyler at the Big Green Bookshop (6.30pm, free).
Friday: Crime novelists Adrian McKinty and Christopher Fowler at the Big Green Bookshop (6.30pm, free). Have you taken our hint yet?
Sunday: The ICA continues its Booker at the Movies series this week with a screening of The Van. Roddy Doyle, author of the Booker-shortlisted work, will follow up the screening with a discussion about the adaptation process.
Know of an event that belongs in the Book Grocer listings? Please e-mail us at londonist-at-gmail-dot-com.
Image courtesy of Simon Crubellier via the Londonist Flickr pool
