London Book And Poetry Events: 17-23 July 2014

Laura Reynolds
By Laura Reynolds Last edited 116 months ago
London Book And Poetry Events: 17-23 July 2014

Tongue Fu comes to Rich Mix on Saturday.

Literary Festival

POETRY INTERNATIONAL: Southbank Centre's Poetry International festival, founded in 1967 by Ted Hughes, has poetry, film and spoken word performances by artists from all over the world. This year it forms part of the Festival of Love. Several events take place each day, click here for full programme. 17-21 July

Thursday 17 July

POETRY TRAIL: From today, visitors to the King's Cross area can take part in a free poetry trail. Poems will be hidden around the area, some with illustrations, for the public to find.  Free, just turn up.

MANOR TALE: Caroline Sandon's new novel, Burnt Norton is set in a 17th century manor house in the Cotswolds, including the garden which inspired T.S. Eliot's Four Quartets. Sandon is the current Lady of the manor, and today she is at Hatchard's in Piccadilly to talk about the discoveries she made whilst writing the book. Free, prebook, 1pm

COMEDY LESSONS: Author Tony Kirkwood is at Waterstone's Greenwich to launch his new book, How to Write Comedy. There's also a performance by a stand-up comedian. 6pm

SOUND POETRY: Caroline Bergvall, a sound poet, teams up with experimental Norwegian percussionist Ingar Zach and Swiss visual artist Thomas Köppel to invent a language of extremes. They feature everything from English and Nordic poetry to the lyrics of contemporary pop music. Takes place at Southbank Centre. £10, prebook, 6pm

EAST MEETS WEST: Xiaolu Guo will be at Waterstone's Piccadilly to talk about the inspiration behind her novel, I AM CHINA, as well as her other work as a writer and filmmaker. Free, prebook, 7pm

BOOK LAUNCH: Gay's The Word book shop near Euston hosts the launch of Rosie Garland's new book, Vixen, about the arrival of a new priest in a village, and the danger and opportunities that this brings. £2, RSVP on Facebook, 7pm

LEFT WING THINKERS: Waterstone's Hampstead hosts Sasha Abramsky’s celebrating his grandfather’s intellectual passions. Chimen and Miriam Abramsky created an incredible repository of thousands upon thousands of books, forming a hub of left-wing intellectual Jewish life that played host to the world’s leading thinkers (including Isaiah Berlin and Eric Hobsbawm). £3/£5, prebook, 7pm

Friday 18 July

MUSICAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY: Grammy Award-winning singer Jessye Norman is at Hatchard's bookshop on Piccadilly to discuss her career and her autobiography Stand Up Straight and Sing! £8, prebook, 6.30pm

EROTIC FICTION: Erotic fiction writer Abbi Glines is over from the US and will be at West End Lane Books in West Hampstead to read from and sign copies of her latest book, Misbehaving. Free, prebook by email, 7.30pm

ADULT STORYTELLING: Into The Greenwood is the latest event by adult storytelling company London Dreamtime. Taking place at a secret location near Honor Oak Station, all we know about it is "The ancient gods call you into the twilight greenwood for magic and music". £3, prebook, 8pm

Saturday 19 July

STREET CAT BOB: Meet author James Bowen and Street Cat Bob (of A Street Cat Named Bob fame) at Waterstone's Islington. They will be signing copies of their new picture book My Name is Bob. 11am

POETRY IN THE PARK: Poetry Luv, the platform for poetry and spoken word artists, has a poetry marquee at the Lambeth Country Show in Brockwell Park all weekend. Expect two days of poetry and spoken word performances. Free, just turn up, 1pm-5pm, 19-20 July

TONGUE FU: The Tongue Fu band provide the backing track for poets, storytellers, writers and comedians to perform at Rich Mix in Shoreditch. £8/£6, prebook, 7.30pm

LIPPED INK: With open mic slots, a featured poet and a spoken word session, Lipped Ink at the Poetry Cafe has something for everyone. £5, just turn up, 8pm

Sunday 20 July

POETRY LECTURE: The Poetry Society's Annual Lecture is given by American poet Carolyn Forché at Southbank Centre. The theme is The Poet As A Witness, Forché explores how poets have been influenced by extreme events, referencing World War One poets John MacRae and Isaac Rosenberg, amongst others. £10, prebook, 5.15pm

TORRIANO POETS: Tonight's Torriano Poets meeting features Natacha Bryan and Nick Sunderland, introduced by Lisa Kelly. £5/£4, just turn up, 7.30pm

Monday 21 July

NEW EXHIBITION: See first edition books, original letters and artwork from much-loved children’s authors such as Mary Norton and Michelle Magorian at Waterstone's Piccadilly. The exhibition, by Puffin books, encourages people to discover a new favourite book. Free, just turn up, until 24 August

Tuesday 22 July

MARRIAGE THRILLER: The recent rise in the new "domestic thriller" sub genre of fiction is being discussed in a Salon at Bloomsbury Institute. author of Before We Met, Lucie Whitehouse, and serial psychological thriller writer Julie Corbin the genre in relation to their own novels, with journalist, broadcaster and author Alex Heminsley. £7-£10, prebook, 6.30pm

SHORT STORIES: Graham Swift is at Daunt Books in Marylebone to launch his new collection of 25 short stories, England And Other Stories. He is in conversation with fellow short story author, K.J. Orr. £8, prebook, 7pm

SECOND CHANCE: Wilma Johnson's book, Surf Mama, was published by a company called Beautiful Books, just before they went bust. Now, another publisher has picked it up, and she's at Big Green Bookshop in Wood Green talking about her experiences. £3, prebook, 7pm

MAGAZINE LAUNCH: Ambit magazine hosts the launch of Ambit 217 at The Sun and 13 Cantons, with readings from John Menaghan and more writers TBA. £5, just turn up, 7pm

BOOK LAUNCH: An evening with Linda Grant is taking place at Waterstone's Hampstead, to celebrate her new book, Upstairs At The Party, which takes place on a 1970s university campus. £3/£5, prebook, 7pm

Wednesday 23 July

MIND JUNGLES: Writer and psychoanalyst Susie Orbach is at ZSL London Zoo to continue the series of writer's talk events, in which writers team up with zoo-keepers to discuss animals. Tonight's event takes place in the zoo's Tiger Territory exhibit, and the theme is “jungles of the mind”. £12, prebook, 6.30pm

GOODNIGHT MISTER TOM: Well-known children's author, Michelle Magorian will be appearing at Waterstone's Piccadilly for one night only talking about the inspiration behind her stories, the notebook on display in the Puffin exhibition (see Monday 21 July), and signing copies of her books. £5/£3, prebook, 6.30pm

LONDON ADVENTURE: The new edition of Arthur Machen’s The London Adventure is unveiled at Housman's bookshop in King's Cross tonight. It's a memoir of the time Machen spent as a reporter in London in the 20th century, and this edition is limited to just 250 copies. Tour guide tour guide Robert Kingham will be talking at the launch. Just turn up, 7pm

CRAFT BEER: Steve Hindy, author of The Craft Beer Revolution and co-founder of The Brooklyn Brewery, is at Camden Town Brewery. The book tells the story of how 2,400 craft breweries have opened in the US. Courtesy of Big Green Bookshop. 7pm

RANTER WRITINGS: Nigel Smith's 1983 book, A Collection of Ranter Writings, is about a group of religious and political radicals who flourished during Britain’s revolutionary movement. It has been republished for 2014, and Nigel Smith is in conversation about it with Stephen Sedley at London Review Bookshop in Holborn. £10, prebook, 7pm

YOUTHFUL TALES: At the start of the summer holidays, the Cafe of Good Hope in Hither Green hosts Youthful Tales, a selection of stories for young adults and by young adults (ages 12 and up). £3, prebook, 7pm

HOMEWORK: Bethnal Green Working Men's Club's monthly literary cabaret night Homework has a Monologue theme tonight. Performers include Tim Clare, Joe Dunthorne, Ross Sutherland and Luke Wright will all be performing monologues, poetic or otherwise. £8, just turn up, 7.30pm

POETRY OPEN MIC: Jawdance is an evening of poetry, including guest acts, an open mic and short poetry films. At Rich Mix. Free, just turn up, 7.30pm

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

Last Updated 16 July 2014