Author appearances, poetry and spoken word events in London this week
Festivals
SLOVO Russian Literature Festival, the only such festival outside of Russia, runs from 8-23 March, with a variety of events taking place throughout this time. Some events are held entirely in Russian with no translation provided, so if the Russian language is not your forte, check before you book.
Thursday 13 March
Waterstones Gower Street celebrate the centenary of the birth of William S. Burroughs this evening with his biographer, Barry Miles, in conversation with Michael Horovitz. £5/£3, prebook, 6.30pm
Turner Prize winning artist Susan Philipsz appears at Somerset House tonight, in conversation with Steven Connor, Professor of English at University of Cambridge. Signed copies of her new book, You Are Not Alone, will be available to purchase. £7/£5, prebook, 6.30pm
Author Lucy Hughes-Hallett heads to Daunt Books in Marylebone to talk about her book The Pike, a biography of Italian poet Gabriele D'Annunzio. £8, prebook, 7pm
Camden Working Men's College celebrates women in this evening dedicated to five female authors. Irma Kurtz, Suzi Feay, Susana Medina, Elisa Segrave and Isabel Wolff all perform readings from their books. Free, prebook, 7pm
Bang Said The Gun's weekly stand-up poetry night hosts Porky The Poet (Phil Jupitus) and Tim Wells, plus an open mic spot. £7/£5, just turn up, 8pm
Stand Up And Slam at The Comedy Cafe sees poets take on comedians head to head. £8+bf, prebook, 8pm
Czech Centre London host a staged reading of Emil Hakl’s debut novel Sabrina Black’s Intimate Box at Courtyard Theatre. In Czech with English subtitles. £7/£5, prebook, 8pm
Friday 14 March
At Big Green Bookshop in Wood Green, award-winning author Leilah Nadir launches her new book, The Orange Trees Of Baghdad, which has been recommended by Noam Chomsky. Free, prebook, 7pm
Saturday 15 March
The Poetry School is hosting a day-long poetry festival consisting of eight mini lectures and eight micro-workshops. Themes include The Poem Noir and The Poetry of Polar Exploration. £69, prebook, 10am
The Enemies Project at Rich Mix sees contemporary Danish and British poets collaborating to perform literary poetry readings. Featuring Morten Sondergaard, Cia Rinne, Martin Glaz Serup, SJ Fowler and Peter Jaeger. Free, just turn up, 7pm
Join Liz Bentley and Caroline Smith at the Poetry Cafe for a night of Louche Women. £7 / £5, just turn up, 8pm
Sunday 16 March
Word 4 Word, a live poetry and music event hosted by Kat Francois, takes place at Theatre Royal, Stratford East. This month includes Rhythm Of Men, an exciting and innovative three man performance poetry group. Free, just turn up, 7pm
This week's Sunday Poetry Reading at Torriano Meeting House features Alan Price, Louise Warren and Claire Booker, introduced by Lisa Kelly. £5/£4, just turn up, 7.30pm
Monday 17 March
Somerset House hosts The Chronicler Of Ferrara. Peter Parker chairs a conversation between novelist Paul Bailey, who wrote and presented two BBC radio documentaries about Bassani, and poet Jamie McKendrick, who is translating Il Romanzo Di Ferrara for Penguin Modern Classics.£8/£5, prebook, 7pm
Karen Joy Fowler, author of worldwide bestseller The Jane Austen Book Club, speaks at Southbank Centre about her new novel, We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves. £10, prebook, 7.45pm
Polari at Southbank Centre is a platform for emerging LGBT literary talent. Today's performers include Maureen Duffy, Angela Clerkin, Andrew Asibong, Carl Stanley and Nicolas Collins. £5, prebook, 7.45pm
The end of Coffee House Poetry's current season is heralded with an evening along the theme of Wake-Up Call. £8/£7, just turn up, 8pm
Tuesday 18 March
Three female authors will be discussing 18th Century Women: Prostitutes, Poets, Feminists, Firebrands with regards to their own books, at The Doodle Bar in Battersea. £10, prebook, 6.30pm
Lutyens & Rubinstein hosts Rebecca Mead in conversation with Fernanda Eberstadt about The Road to Middlemarch, Mead's book about her relationship with novel Middlemarch. £8, prebook, 7pm
Head to Waterstones Hampstead to hear author Rita Goldberg talking about her novel, Motherland: Growing Up With The Holocaust. £4/£6, prebook, 7pm
Waterstones Piccadilly hosts an evening with Ben MacIntyre, author of A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal. £5/£3, prebook, 7pm
American poet Loren Kleinman visits Big Green Bookshop to discuss her new poetry book, The Dark Cave Between My Ribs. Free, prebook, 7pm
Niall O'Sullivan hosts open mic night Poetry Unplugged at the Poetry Cafe. £5 / £4, just turn up, 7.30pm
Wednesday 19 March
The poets of New Poetries V reunite at London Review Bookshop to read from their new volumes. £10, prebook, 7pm
Housmans hosts a free debate to discuss women’s representation and experiences in the art world. Free, just turn up, 7pm
Natural Born Storytellers takes place at Camden Head, a perfect opportunity for those who believe they were born to share their stories with the world. The theme is Five Minutes of Fame. Free, just turn up, 7.30pm
Poetry and spoken word meet over an open mic at Paper Tiger Poetry, hosted by Alain English at the victorian Tea House Theatre. £6, just turn up, 8pm
Follow @LondonistLit for our pick of that day’s literary events.
