London Book And Poetry Events: 13-19 November 2014

Laura Reynolds
By Laura Reynolds Last edited 112 months ago
London Book And Poetry Events: 13-19 November 2014

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

See a performance of The Shipwrecked House on Thursday courtesy of Penned In The Margins

Ongoing

Richmond Literature Festival is going on throughout November in Richmond-upon-Thames. Take a look at the festival calendar for a full list of events.

For those who want to venture slightly outside of London, Chorleywood Literature Festival has names such as Jodi Picoult, Tracy Borman and Sheila Hancock taking part. Various prices, prebook, until 16 November

Writeidea Festival takes over the Idea Store in Whitechapel for four days of free literary events. Line up includes Jake Arnott talking about The Art of Writing the Streets of London,  as well as authors Tom Holland, Jill Dawson and Simon Gough talking about their latest books. Free, prebook, 14-16 November

Thursday 13 November

ALAN CUMMING: The world-renowned actor and tireless LGBT rights campaigner, has written a memoir full of sadness, humour and warmth. Hear him discuss Not My Father's Son: A Family Memoir at Waterstones on Gower Street. £5, prebook, 6.30pm

HORST AT V&A: Susanna Brown is Curator of Photographs at the V&A and the current exhibition Horst: Photographer of Style. She hosts an illustrated talk at Waterstones Piccadilly which will explain the processes of creating this major exhibition and provide an insight into the key themes of the show and stories behind Horst’s most iconic images. Free, prebook, 7pm

MICHAEL FRAYN: Daunt Books in Marylebone has Michael Frayn in discussion with Marcel Theroux on Matchbox Theatre, Frayn's new work which assumes the form of a sketch show, featuring 30 mini monologues and dialogues. £8, prebook, 7pm

ARCHIVE POETRY: Poet in the City and Archives for London have commissioned new poetry from seven leading UK poets to uncover the stories of London’s archives. Tonight at Freemason's Hall, award winning poet David Harsent will be joined by archivist Susan Snell, who will look in detail at the history of the Freemasons. Free, prebook, 7.30pm

PERFORMANCE POETRY: Poet Claire Trévien is at Canada Water Culture Space to perform a stage version of her poetry collection, in collaboration with Penned in the Margins. The Shipwrecked House combines poetry, performance, sound and smell. £10/£8, prebook, 7.30pm

MARILYNNE ROBINSON: Contemporary author Marilynne Robinson is at Southbank Centre talking about her new novel, Lila. It revisits the characters and setting of her past novels, Gilead and Home. £10, prebook, 7.45pm

BANG SAID THE GUN: Expect poetry, spoken word, and an open mic at Bang Said The Gun. Tonight’s performances are by Jodi Ann Bickley and Angry Sam. At The Roebuck in Borough. £7/£5, just turn up, 8pm

SURVIVORS’ POETRY: The Poetry Cafe in Covent Garden hosts Survivors Poetry with work from Helmut Scholz, plus there’s an open mic. £3.50/£2.50/£1.50, 8pm

ROMANTIC FICTION: Head to Waterstones Kensington to meet Adrienne Vaughan, Lizzie Lamb, June Kearns and Mags Cullingford. 8.30pm

Friday 14 November

TRICKSTERS: Russell Brand, illustrator Chris Riddell and their band of tricksters present a one-off, multi-media performance of The Pied Piper of Hamelin at the Royal Albert Hall. All tickets include a copy of Russell Brand’s The Pied Piper of Hamelin. All profits go to literary charities. From £22.90, prebook, 6.30pm

PLAYING POETRY: The Poetry Cafe presents Playing Poetry, an exciting evening of experimental performance poetry and music for singers, songwriters, poets, actors, writers, rappers, musicians and audience members. £6/£5, 7.30pm

Saturday 15 November

ART BOOK FAIR: Waterstones on Piccadilly hosts its first ever Art Book Fair. Expect signings and mini-workshops by artists, curators and authors including David Campany, Marion Deuchars, Mireille Fauchon, Owen Gildersleeve, Sophie Gordon and many more. 1pm-5pm

WRITING MASTERCLASS: Publisher Simon & Schuster is running a creative writing masterclass for writers of commercial women’s fiction. The one-day event aims to help unpublished writers find their way to being published, with tips from editors, a literary agent, a bestselling author, a bookseller from Waterstones and a book reviewer from Heat magazine. The morning consists of one-to-one fifteen minute sessions, and the afternoon is a broader, more general panel event. Takes place at Books and the City HQ in Holborn. Tickets have sold out for the morning event but some remain for the afternoon session. £60, prebook, 1.30pm

GRAPHIC NOVELS: Comica and the London Graphic Novel Network present S.M.A.S.H. at Barbican Library, an afternoon looking at the art of the graphic novel. Three subjects will be explored in depth: the art in comic books, the history of comic books and the importance of storytelling to comics. Free, 12.30pm-3.30pm

POETRY IN THE CRYPT: Poetry in the Crypt is an occasional reading series which takes place in the crypt below St Mary's Church on Upper Street, Islington. Tonight's featured readers are Yvonne Green, John Harvey and Lorraine Mariner .£4, 7pm

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 16 November

POETRY LIBRARY: Southbank Centre's Poetry Library has an open day focusing on a world in which text becomes material, featuring art objects that manifest text in unusual ways. They include poems in boxes, poems that move, poems without words, edible poems, poems as mail art, postcards, T-shirts and teabags. Artists include Colin Sackett, zimZalla and Robert Lax. At 8pm, there's a live event in the Poetry Library to hear three very different poets read new work in response to the open day. Free, just turn up, 11am-7pm

WITCHES AND WIZARDS: Head to Keats House in Hampstead for a family day of tales, songs and poems with a magical flavour from the storyteller. Learn some of the secrets of Merlin and invent your own magic spell. All included in entry price, just turn up, 1pm-4pm

TORRIANO POETS: This week’s poetry reading at Torriano Poets Meeting House in Kentish Town features Chrys Salt and Ghareeb Iskander. £5/£4, just turn up, 7.30pm

Monday 17 November

WALLACE STEVENS: Poet in the City presents poet Wallace Stevens at Kings Place. In this special event exploring his life and work, hear live readings of classics like The Emperor of Ice Cream and The Man with the Blue Guitar. Event also features live poetry and discussion from a host of acclaimed speakers, including the award winning novelist Ali Smith, broadcaster Sarah Churchwell, President of the Royal Academy Christopher Le Brun and poet Lachlan McKinnon. £9.50/£11.50, prebook, 7pm

STORYTELLING: John Yorke, author of Into the Woods: How Stories Work and Why We Tell Them, is at Hatchard's on Piccadilly to talk about the Nature and Structure of Stories. £5, prebook, 7.30pm

LOUCHE WOMEN: A live poetry-chat show featuring poetry, singalongalouche, guests and live music. The audience is encouraged to bring A Thing for the chance to win a prize. Co-hosted by Caroline Smith and Sue Kreitzman, at Poetry Cafe. 8pm

Tuesday 18 November

NORMAN CONQUEST: Slightly Foxed on Gloucester Road hosts Paul Kingsnorth, who will be giving a talk on the Norman Conquest followed by a reading from The Wake, his award-winning fiction debut. Erica Wagner, former editor of The Times and one of this year’s Man Booker Prize judges, chairs the event. £5, prebook, 6.30pm

TEMPLAR POETRY: Keats House in Hampstead hosts an evening with Christopher James, Beatrice Garland and the winner of the 2014 Straid Collection Award (yet to be announced). Award-winning, Scottish-born poet, Christopher James will read a selection of his darkly comic and quintessentially English works. Supported by Arts Council England. Free, prebook, 7pm

JOAN OF ARC: Helen Castor explores the facts behind the myth of Joan of Arc - reexamining the story and giving a fresh perspective to an already extraordinary tale, at Waterstones Kensington. £5/£3, prebook, 7pm

MARGOT AT WAR: Anne de Courcy discusses Margot at War at Daunt Books in Marylebone. The novel offers an unconventional view of the First World War from inside Downing Street. £8, prebook, 7pm

PLACE WRITING: Philip Marsden, Julian Hoffman and Ken Worpole are all known for writing about place. Tonight they're at London Review Bookshop to discuss the future of the sub-genre. £10, prebook, 7pm

SYRIA SPEAKS: As part of Nour Festival, Syrian poet Golan Haji and authors Robin Yassin Kassab and Zaher Omareen read from new anthology Syria Speaks: Art and Culture from the Frontline at Chelsea Theatre. £10, prebook, 7.30pm

Wednesday 19 November

BHOPAL DISASTER: Bhopal: Facing 30 is the culmination of a photographic project that portrays the site of the 1984 Bhopal disaster, in which 7 tons of the deadly gas methyl isocyanate leaked, and the people that continued to be affected.  The book was produced to commemorate the 30th anniversary, and tonight photographer Francesca Moore, and Colin Toogood, campaigns manager for the Bhopal Medical Appeal, are at Housmans Bookshop to discuss the book. £3, 7pm

STANZA BONANZA: Kent & Sussex and Brixton go head to head in tonight’s Stanza Bonanza at The Poetry Cafe with members of both teams performing and doing poetry readings. 7.30pm

Last Updated 12 November 2014