Book Grocer: 7-13 September

Rachel Holdsworth
By Rachel Holdsworth Last edited 150 months ago
Book Grocer: 7-13 September

The week ahead in literary London

Wednesday: Jason Burke discusses the world post-9/11 at Daunt Books in Chelsea (7pm, £5).

Penguin's Great Food series editor Pen Vogler is at Foyles Charing Cross Road, discussing food through the ages - and there'll be biscuits... (6.30pm, £3).

Tom Basden, Jarred McGinnis and Sam Taradash welcome John Butler and Mario Petrucci to YARN's regular Special Relationship (7.30pm, £5).

Sebastian Hayes hosts The Traces They Wished to Leave at the Poetry Cafe, with Iraqi poets Badr shakir al-Sayyab and Mahmoud Al-Braikan (7.30pm, £5 / £3).

Macedonian-Slovenian poet Lidija Dimkovska is joined by George Szirtes and her translator Peggy Reid, at the Poetry Library (8pm, free).

Thursday: Peter Ackroyd talks about his latest work, England, Foundation, at the Southbank Centre (7.30pm, £15 / £12).

Bestselling historical fiction writer Karen Maitland heads to the Big Green Bookshop to talk about her latest novel, set in the reign of King John (7pm, free).

Kamila Shamsie, Janine di Giovanni and Shiv Malik talk about the 10 year anniversary of 9/11, chaired by Granta deputy ed Ellah Allfrey, at the Free Word Centre (6.30pm, £7 / £5).

All the winners from the Utter! paid gig contests compete to be the Utter! champion of 2011. Get yourselves to the Monarch (7pm, £7 / £5).

Sasha Dugdale, Stephen Romer and Jamie McKendrick are the poets tonight at Lauderdale House (8pm, £5 / £3).

POLYply poets are James Davies, Drew Milne and Redell Olsen (7pm, free).

Friday: The Lewisham Literary Festival launches with the Firestation Book Swap on tour: hosts Scott Pack and Robert Hudson talk and swap books and cake with Evie Wyld and John Harding (7.30pm, £4 / free with homemade cake).

Matteo Pistono describes his time as a covert human rights monitor in Tibet, at the Free Word Centre (6.30pm, £5 / £3).

Patrick Cunnane invites Li Yan, Pauline Sewards and Amy Mc Allister over for Dodo Modern Poets at the Poetry Cafe (8pm, £6 / £5).

Saturday: Over in Lewisham, there are free events for children with authors Alex Milway (10am) and Brian Keaney (12pm) and a songs and rhymes session for tinies (11.30am, free). For grown-ups, Ben Aaronovitch and Suzanne McLeod talk urban fantasy (3pm, £4), the people behind Smoke, Ambit, Snipe and Mustard magazines gather at 5pm (£4), and For Books' Sake invites Karen McLeod, Sarah McIntyre and Ellen Lindner to chat (7pm, £4).

Poet in the City takes part in the Kings Place Festival with three events: The Demiurge (3pm, £4.50) features poets John Mole, Jane Duran and Martyn Crucefix; Spread the Word (4.15pm, £4.50) has readings by Michael Schmidt, Nick Makoha, Rowyda Amin and Karen McCarthy Woolf from the anthology Ten; Giles Abbott and Xanthe Gresham are two of the performers Storytelling (5.30pm, £4.50).

Richard Tyrone-Jones is in the Poetry Cafe's Cellar with Niall O'Sullivan (8pm, £4 / £3).

Tally Koren is the guest of Poets Anonymous in Croydon (2.30pm, £2).

Sunday: The Hampstead and Highgate Literary Festival kicks off with Gavin Esler, David Aaronovitch, Frank Ledwidge and John Freeman talking about 9/11 (11am, £15); Will Carver talks about his novel Girl 4 (12.15pm, £7); John Crace, Olivia Lichtenstein, John Sutherland and Joanna Briscoe discuss guilty pleasures (12.30pm, £10); Patrick Bishop talks about his second novel Follow Me Home (12.30pm, £7); Martyn Crucefix leads a poetry workshop (1.15pm, £20); Rob White, Julie Welch and John Crace are in conversation about White Hart Lane (2pm, £7); Benjamin Markovits discusses his Byron trilogy (2pm, £7); take tea with Nicholas Parsons (2.15pm, £12); Leo Hollis talks about 12 of London's key buildings (3pm, £7); Michael Slater and Sam Leith discuss Dickens (3pm, £7); Andrew G Marshall talks about his therapy books (3.30pm, £7); Raymond Blanc shares kitchen secrets (4pm, £12); Caroline Moorhead chats about her new book A Train in Winter (5pm, £7); Dan Lepard talks about cooking (5.15pm, £7); Andrew Morton shares his thoughts on the new Royal couple (6pm, £12); Adele Ward leads a creative writing workshop (6.30pm, £20); Peter Snow talks about his biography of Wellington (6.45pm, £12); Rachel Johnson discusses The Lady (7.10pm, £10); Rana Mitter offers a short introduction to modern China (7.30pm, £10); and Jane Fallon talks to Sarah Lawrence (8.15pm, £10).

And breathe

At Lewisham, Ninja Meerkats author Gareth P Jones (10am) and four of the Barbican Young Poets - Greer Dewdney, Aisling Fahey, Kieron Rennie AKA Zionite and Safi Strand (12pm) - are doing free events for children. Then Joe Dunthorne and Lee Rourke talk about their books (2pm, £4), followed by a crime panel with Oliver Harris, Claire Seeber and Samuel Bonner (4pm, £4).

Apples and Snakes present rappers, poets and storytellers to Spin! for kids at the Kings Place Festival (3pm, £4.50).

Timothy Ades and Will Stone are the guest readers at Torriano Poets (7.30pm, £5 / £3).

Monday: Colin Freeman is at Dulwich Books describing his ordeal after being captured by Somali pirates (contact the shop for time / price).

Jake Wallis Simons and Samantha Harvey chat about their work at the Lewisham Literary Festival (7.30pm, £4).

Up in Hampstead and Highgate, Stephen D King and Stephanie Flanders discuss the economy (8.30am, £12); Sam Leith talks about his book The Coincidence Engine (11am, £7); Diana Athill discusses her career (11am, £7); Claire Clark talks to Lucie Whitehouse about her books (11am, £7); 'Nicci French' are in conversation with Peter Guttridge (11am, £7); Rebecca Hunt chats about her debut novel Mr Chartwell (12pm, £2); Kitty Dimbleby talks about her book Daffodil Girls (12.30pm, £7); Virgina Nicholson and Jill McGivering talk about women in war (12.30pm, £7); Daisy Waugh, Anne Sebba, Justine Picardie and Christopher Stevens discuss heroes and villains (12.30pm, £7); Jake Wallis Simons and 'Noel Holland' chat about their wartime-set novels (12.30pm, £7); Oliver Harris talks about his debut crime novel The Hollow Man (1.30pm, £2); Sue Guiney leads a playwriting workshop (1.30pm, £20); Julie Myerson is in conversation with Kate Kellaway (2pm, £7); Sarah Gristwood and Kate Williams talk historical women (2pm, £3); Justin Cartwright chats about his thriller Other People's Money (6.45pm, £10); Blake Morrison talks about his latest novel The Last Weekend (6.45pm, £10); Barbara Taylor Bradford discusses her work (8.30pm, £12); David Bellos takes on translation (8.30pm, £10); and Misha Glenny discusses cyber crime (8.30pm, £12).

Bolivian born, German resident, poet and publisher Eugen Gomringer makes a rare appearance in the UK at the Poetry Library (7pm, free).

Tuesday: Actors read shocking tales at Liar's League (7.30pm, £5).

History writer Fiona Rule gives an illustrated talk about the docklands at the Lewisham Literary Festival (8pm, £4).

Barry Albin-Dyer remembers 200 years of Bermondsey's Albin & Sons, at Woolfson & Tay (7pm, £5 / £3).

David Bellos explains how translation is at the heart of who we are, at Foyles Charing Cross Road (6.30pm, free but reserve a place in advance).

On the final day of the Hampstead and Highgate Literary Festival, Michael Green discusses philanthrocapitalism (8.15am, £12); Jane Rusbridge leads a creative writing workshop (10am, £20); Jill Dawson talks about her novel Lucky Bunny (11am, £7); James Burge, Alex von Tunzelman and Hallie Rubenhold debate women in history (11am, £7); Robert Sackville-West looks at the 400 year history of his family (11am, £7); John Goodall gives an illustrated talk on the English castle (11am, £7); artist and illustrator Louise Boulter talks about her work (12pm, £2); Annalena McAfee discusses her debut novel The Spoiler (12.30pm, £7); Kamin Mohammadi chats about her memoir The Cypress Tree (12.30pm, £7); meet poet Adam Taylor (1.30pm, £2); Pam White, Barbara Levy and Adele Ward offer advice on getting published (2pm, £7); Stephanie Calman and Claire Calman are in conversation about their books (2pm, £7); Fiona MacCarthy talks about Edward Burne-Jones and the Victorian imagination (2pm, £7); barrister Alex McBride and ex-con Noel 'Razor' Smith talk law (6.45pm, £10); Sarah Brown discusses life in Downing Street (6.45pm, £12); Peter Sissons talks about his career (6.45pm, £12); Esther Freud chats about her work and most recent novel Lucky Break (8.30pm, £12); and Alan Hollinghurst is in conversation with Claire Armitstead (8.30pm, £10).

Follow @LondonistLit for our pick of that day’s literary events

Last Updated 07 September 2011