About Rachel Holdsworth

Gabourey Sidibe in Precious / image courtesy of Icon Film Our weekly round-up of film reviews Precious – or, to be precise, Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire – is the ultimate misery movie: the story of a morbidly obese, illiterate, abused and …

Brush off your stovepipe hat or plump up your bustle, for steampunk is coming to Lewisham on Saturday night. TwoBob are dedicated to bringing new music and funtime parties to South East London, and what better introduction to them than a night of 50s rockabilly …

This falls into the category of ‘some people don’t know they’re born’, doesn’t it? A West Kensington woman has vented her fury to a local paper about a rusty old pole that used to support a roundel outside the tube. Apparently it’s proof that West …

Image of Domo-kun by shibuya246 under a Creative Commons licence If you went to the Matsuri festival at Spitalfields last September but couldn’t move, you might want to try what’s likely to be the more genteel surroundings of the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre on …

Looking at the week ahead in literary London Wednesday: The Game of War is, as you might expect, a military strategy game – with a difference. Players aim to destroy their opponents’ communications structure, thereby learning “how to fight and win against their oppressors”. The …

Knitted policeman by Heather Brown / M@ Brown Despite getting the law changed to allow himself to chair the Metropolitan Police Authority, Boris Johnson has today decided he doesn’t have the time to do it (he could always give up his Telegraph column if he’s …

Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy and Poetry Live have quickly put together an event to raise funds for the DEC Haiti Earthquake Appeal. Twenty fantastic poets – including Roger McGough, Andrew Motion, Jo Shapcott, Glyn Maxwell and Gillian Clarke – are appearing at Westminster Central …

The second LSE Literary Festival runs 11th-13th February, exploring the edges of the arts and science – and it’s all completely free. Ian Visits has a comprehensive run-down of the talks on Saturday 13th (we like the sound of Reading London with Dan Cruickshank; Lionel …

Tahar Rahim and Niels Arestrup in A Prophet / image courtesy of Optimum Releasing Our weekly round-up of film reviews A Prophet “will be bracketed in years to come as a prison drama, but it will stay in the memory of those who see it …

Looking at the week ahead in literary London Wednesday: Express Excess is back at the Enterprise in Chalk Farm tonight, with Will Self – doing something unannounced and spontaneous – and comic verse meister Logan Murray, hosted by Paul Lyalls. (8.30 for 9pm, £5) Issue …