Book, poetry and spoken word events in London this week
Wednesday: Mark Thomas tells about his adventures walking the Israeli Separation Barrier, at Canada Water Culture Space (7.30pm, £10 / £8).
AL Kennedy, Jamie McKendrick, Andrea Stuart, Adam Foulds and John Freeman launch the latest issue of Granta at Waterstones Piccadilly (6.30pm, £5 / £3).
Anne Beech, Ian Bone and Suzanne Moore discuss what makes good radical writing, at Housmans (7pm, £3).
Thursday: To celebrate the publication of Hilary Mantel's Bring up the Bodies, Wood Green's Big Green Bookshop is holding an amazing sounding medieval banquet – plus signed first editions (7pm, £40).
Jem Rolls and Simon Mole are the guests at stand up poetry night Bang Said the Gun at the Roebuck (8pm, £5).
Ed Smith traces fate, fortune and luck down the ages, at Daunt Books in Cheapside (7pm, £5).
Friday: Experience an evening of Persian poetry with Reza Mohammadi, Shakila Azizzada and Azita Ghahreman at Persepolis in Peckham (7.30pm, free).
Suzy Joinson, DW Wilson and the marvellous poet Ross Sutherland read at the London Review Bookshop to mark the launch of Her Royal Majesty issue 12 (7pm, £7).
Don Paterson, Jim Crace, Cynan Jones and Andrea Stuart debate how the British landscape shaped writing, a Granta event at the British Library (6.30pm, £7.50 / £5).
Live Canon performance poetry ensemble get stuck into the Pre Raphaelites at Bloomsbury Theatre (7pm, £10).
It's not just Charles Dickens with a major anniversary this year, Edward Lear has one too. The Poetry Cafe's exhibition dedicated to the nonsense verse writer opens today.
Life Stories Cafe storytelling night is back at Woolfson & Tay: Malika Booker, Dorothea Smartt, Kadija George, Marcus Reeves and Zena Edwards expand on a theme of 'womb' (7pm, £5).
Saturday: This year Edward Lear would have been 200 if he'd lived, which is clearly a preposterous statement. More preposterous than an owl and a pussycat going to sea? Judge for yourself during a musical retelling at Canada Water's Culture Space (2pm, £7 / £24 family).
Young adult authors Kimberly Derting, James Dawson, Tanya Byrne and Cat Clarke talk about their books at Foyles on Charing Cross Road (2.30pm, free but email to reserve a place).
Take your pick of two sets of poets at the Poetry Cafe: John Paul O'Neill, Peter Hayhoe, Laurie Bolger, David Floyd and Zach Roddis are at Platform 1 – as could you be if you get your name down (7.30pm, £5 / £4) while Tim Cresswell, Edward Doeger, Rebecca Morrison, Jemina Roberts, Richard Scott, Marek Urbanowicz and Clair Wilcox perform new work in the studio (7pm, £3).
Sunday: There's more Edward Lear from Michael Rosen and Roger McGough at the British Library (2.30pm, £7.50 / £5).
Ronnie McGrath, Paul Lyalls, Amy Acre and JJ Von Der Heydt get funky at Jazz Verse Jukebox, hosted by Jumoke Fashola at Ronnie Scott's (7.30pm, £8).
Monday: Hannah Rothschild talks about her great aunt's extraordinary life with Justine Picardie at Daunt Books Marylebone (7pm, £8).
Exiled Writers Ink introduce work that would be censored in the author's country of origin, from Hamid Ismail (Uzbekistan), Mehrangiz Rassapour (Iran), Haim Bresheeth (Israel) and N Dhargyal (Tibet) at the Poetry Cafe (7.30pm, £4 / £2).
Tuesday: New Finnish Grammar author Diego Marani discusses his latest novel, Last of the Vostyachs, at Keats House (7pm, £5).
Niall O'Sullivan hosts the Poetry Cafe's open mic night (7.30pm, £5 / £4).
Go night walking with Southwark Stanza and enjoy poetry, prose and music at the Dulwich Festival (8pm, £8 / £5).
Book ahead: Mark Haddon talks about his new book, The Red House, at Waterstones Piccadilly on 17 May. This is bound to be popular so get in fast (£5 / £3).
Follow @LondonistLit for our pick of that day’s literary events.
