Author appearances, poetry and spoken word events in London this week
Thursday 12 December
There are late night shopping events with authors (Waterstones Gower Street, from 5.30pm) and mince pies (Foyles Charing Cross Road, from 6pm). Redstone Press also has a pop-up shop on Fournier Street until Christmas.
John Agard hosts London Liming at Rich Mix, with guests Lemn Sissay, Caroline Bird and Alexander D Great. £10 / £8, 7.30pm
Sara Hirsch, Grace Beadle, Tanya Loretta Dee, Catalina Ferro, Dudley Sutton and Mark Thornhill are confirmed guests at the Farrago Seasonal Slam in the RADA Foyer Bar, plus open mic. £6 / £5, 7.30pm
Seumas Milne talks about the battle for international political supremacy in the 21st century, at Housmans. £3, 7pm
Paul Bertill hosts a poetry open mic at Keats House. Free, 7pm
Zinovy Zinik, Andro Semeiko and Sally O'Reilly are at Waterstones Piccadilly. Free, prebook, 7pm
Students from Lilian Bayliss School in Lambeth perform with Deanna Rodger and Dean Atta at the Royal Society of Arts. 7.30pm
Friday 13 December
Dodo Modern Poets are at the Poetry Cafe with a theme of Winter Lights. Guests include Jenny Ridley, PR Murry, Lisa Hitchen and host Paul McGrane. £7 / £6, 8pm
Gale Burns hosts an evening of poetry, mince pies and candlelight upstairs at the Wheatsheaf in Fitzrovia, with Matt Bryden, Kim Campanello, Vahni Capildeo and more. £3, 7pm
Head to SOAS for a Re-Imagining Africa: Poetry Jam with Sifundo, Abadir Hashi, Mizan the Poet, Faisal Saleh, Ibrahim Sincere and Asha Mohammoud. £3, 5pm
Saturday 14 December
Take the kids (8 and above) to the Big Green Bookshop to hear author and storyteller Daniel Morden. Free, 3pm
Tom Huddleston is signing copies of The Waking World at Review in Peckham. From 2pm
David Amery combines poetry and maps at Epicentre in Leytonstone. Free, 7.30pm
Jeremy Reed and Itchy Ear bring their Ginger Light sonic poetry to the Horse Hospital in Bloomsbury. £6, 7.30pm
Sunday 15 December
Chris Hadfield is signing copies of his book at Waterstones Piccadilly from 3pm, but arrive early.
Kat Francois hosts Word4Word Slam at Theatre Royal Stratford East with Tshaka Campbell and open mic. Free, 7pm
Monday 16 December
Daljit Nagra, Emily Berry and Maurice Riordan perform poetry at The Print Room in W2. £10, 7.30pm
Frances Kruk, Andy Spragg and Chris Stephenson read poetry at the Footsy Index in Farringdon. 7.30pm
Coffee House Poetry has a stormy weather theme on Old Brompton Road. £8 / £7, 8pm
Tuesday 17 December
Niall O'Sullivan hosts the Poetry Cafe's weekly open mic night, Poetry Unplugged. £5 / £4, 7.30pm
Alison Backenbury, Alfred Corn and John Greening are the guests at the Lumen Poetry Series in Tavistock Place. £5 / £4, 6.30pm
Thursday 19 December
There's 10% off at the London Review Bookshop's customer evening: browse with mulled cider and sausages from 6.30pm. Waterstones Covent Garden also has an author evening, with Simon Garfield, The Gentle Author and more, from 6pm
Syrian writers Iyad Hayatleh, Maram al-Masri and Husam Eddin Mohammad are at the Poetry Cafe with Exiled Writers Ink. £4 / £2, 7.30pm
Sir Timothy Ackroyd performs A Christmas Carol at the Idler Academy. £15, 7.30pm
Bethany Pope's Crown of Thorns is performed at the Poetry Cafe, followed by open mic. £5 / £4, 3pm
Follow @LondonistLit for our pick of that day’s literary events.
