London Book And Poetry Events: 13-19 June

Rachel Holdsworth
By Rachel Holdsworth Last edited 141 months ago
London Book And Poetry Events: 13-19 June

Book, poetry and spoken word events in London this week

Wednesday: Antony Beevor and James Holland are talking about the Second World War at Waterstones Piccadilly (7pm, £5 / £3).

An exhibition featuring previously unseen photos, letters, and manuscripts belonging to Lawrence Durrell opens at Foyles Charing Cross Road tonight (6.30pm, free).

Live Canon perform poems about sport and the Olympics at Greenwich Theatre (7.30pm, £10 / £5).

Thursday: Londonist's M@ talks to Craig Taylor about his excellent book Londoners, at the Museum of London (7pm, £6 / £5, book in advance).

The one and only Roger McGough performs at Bang Said the Gun in SE1 tonight, along with The Very Grimm Brothers and the Bang Said regulars (8pm, £10).

Find out about the lives of the Rossettis at Highgate Cemetery's chapel, from lecturer Dinah Roe (7.30pm, £7 / £5).

There's a Poetry Olympics Enlightenment Marathon (POEM) at the Southbank Centre, featuring appearances from John Hegley, Patience Agbabi, Francesca Beard, Molly Parkin, Elvis McGonagall, Damon Albarn, Steven Berkoff and a whole bunch more (7pm, £12 / £10).

Pia Juul talks about her latest work of crime fiction, The Murder of Halland, at Belgravia Books (6.30pm, free).

Friday: Enjoy an evening of storytelling with Are You Sitting Comfortably at Toynbee Studios (7.30pm, £8).

Celebrate James Joyce's Ulysses with readings at the Free Word Centre (7pm, £7 / £5).

Richard Tyrone-Jones previews his show Big Heart at the Royal Free Hospital, the place that saved his life (4.15pm, free).

PR Murry, Lizelah Thaugally, Maggie Oke and Patric Cunnane are the Dodo Modern Poets performing at the Poetry Cafe (8pm, £6 / £5).

Saturday: The somewhat legendary Amnesty book sale is happening again in Blackheath 9am-5pm. Why not combine a visit with catching Lloyd Shepherd and Linda Stratmann talk about history mysteries at Lewisham Library (11am, free)?

Still in the south east, John Hegley performs his show The Adventure of Monsieur Robinet at Canada Water Library (7.30pm, £10 / £8).

There's poetry, comedy and open mic spots at the Poetry Cafe's Saturday Soapbox (7.30pm, £3).

Sunday: Lemn Sissay, Michael Rosen, Jeremy Hardy, Tanya Auclair, Reem Kelani and Cerys Matthews help Book Slam celebrate sanctuary at Bernie Spain Gardens, to launch Refugee Week (2pm, free).

Monday: Zoë Skoulding, Patrick McGuinness, Kate Clanchy, Stuart Silver and Huw Warren are unpredictable, and in at least one case improvised, at Coffee House Poetry (8pm, £7 / £6).

Poets Valerie Laws, John Killick and Sue Hubbard discuss ageing and dementia at GV Art (6.30pm, free).

Tuesday: Katy Darby talks about her novel The Whore's Asylum with Londonist's Rachel Holdsworth at Deptford Lounge (7pm, free), plus a reading from Ellen Dibsdall.

Agent Juliet Pickering sheds light on the publishing process at Kensington Central Library (6.30pm, £5 / £3).

Crime writers James Runcie, Anne Zouroudi and Claire McGowan describe how to plot the perfect murder, at the Bloomsbury Institute (6.30pm, £15 / £12).

Storytellers from the Crick Crack Club perform tales of lost rivers and water goddesses at the Soho Theatre (8pm, £8).

All month: Curator-led tours round the British Library's Writing Britain exhibition are the same price as normal tickets – £9 / £7.

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

Last Updated 13 June 2012