Author appearances, poetry and spoken word events in London this week
Wednesday: Caught by the River launch a new book by Robert Macfarlane, Dan Richards and Stanley Donwood at Rough Trade East (7pm, free).
Three events at the Southbank Centre's London Literature Festival: human rights lawyer Clive Stafford-Smith (8.15pm, £14 / £10), Mark McCormack, Alex Drummond, Vicky Ryder, Michael Wynne and Stuart Wakefield at salon Polari (8.30pm, £8) and a passenger's history of the tube (6.30pm, £8).
Thursday: Salena Godden, Joshua Idehen, Byron Vincent, Shane Solanki and Chris Redmond celebrate Tongue Fu's fifth birthday at Rich Mix (8pm, £7 / £5).
Suzanne Joinson (A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar), Kerry Hudson (Tony Hogan Bought Me an Ice-cream Float Before he Stole my Ma) and Stuart Evers (If This is Home) are at Bookseller Crow in Crystal Palace (7.30pm, free).
The London Literature Festival wraps up with an appearance by Siri Hustvedt (7.30pm, £14 / £10) and StorySLAM:Live (8pm, £8).
Some of 4'33"'s authors will be telling stories at the Balham Bowls Club to raise money for the Balham Oxfam bookshop (7pm).
Alistair Campbell and Chris Mullin give a talk before a performance of A Walk On Part at the Arts Theatre, adapted from the latter's diaries (and very good, as we found out earlier this year). The talk starts at 5.45pm, tickets to that and the show cost £15-£29.50.
John Boyne, author of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, talks about his new novel The Absolutist at Waterstones Covent Garden (6.30pm, £3).
Friday: Owen Hatherley, Owen Jones, Laura Oldfield-Ford and Eliane Glaser take a journey through urban Britain, at the British Library (6.30pm, £7.50 / £5).
Are You Sitting Comfortably present stories about winners and losers at Toynbee Cafe (7.30pm, £8).
Tangerine Press and Rising Magazine present a night of modern poetry for drinking people, at the Betsey Trotwood (7pm, free). Poets are Fred Voss, Joan Jobe Smith, Tim Wells, Jenni Fagan, Joseph Ridgwell, Adelle Stripe and Sophie Cameron.
Michael Shann, Darius Victor Sneickus, Mo Gallaccio, Mike Sims and Paul McGrane launch a new work from Paekakariki Press at the Poetry Cafe (7.30pm, free).
Saturday: Two excellent events at the Sydenham Arts Festival: children's author Gareth P Jones and extracts from Roald Dahl's work (3.15pm, £6 / £4) and Roger McGough, Adisa the Verbaliser and Hannah Lowe (7pm, £10 / £6) both at Forest Hill School.
Michael Horovitz, LiTTLe MACHiNe and Mulbert do some stand up poetry at the Poetry Cafe (7.30pm).
Sunday: The Craig Taylor Literary Dinner is finally here: now in association with Foyles, eat The Two Nightgales food at Islington Metal Works and have a drink in a tube carriage bar (6pm, £30).
Monday: Take your little ones to Rich Mix to hear Surya Turner combine stories with craft (1.30pm, £2).
Palmers Green poets go head to head with Greenwich rivals in Stanza Bonanza at the Poetry Cafe (7.30pm, free).
Tuesday: Two poetry heavyweights, Fleur Adcock and Anne Stevenson, are at the Lumen Poetry Series in Camden tonight (7pm, £5 / £4).
It's open mic night with Poetry Unplugged at the Poetry Cafe (7.30pm, £5 / £4).
Jeremy Seal talks about the actual Meander river, at Daunt Books in Marylebone (7pm, £8).
Piatkus Fiction Editor Donna Condon is the speaker at London Writers' Club (7pm, £15 / £20).
Ariadne's Thread launches its second issue at The Old Ship in Richmond (7.30pm, free).
Follow @LondonistLit for our pick of that day’s literary events.
