The week ahead in literary London
Wednesday: It's Literary Death Match time again (8.15pm, £5 / £8). Manning up with sharpened novels are Edward Docx, Elif Batuman, Abigail Tartellin and Stuart Evers; Cosmo Landesman, Anna Goodall and Samantha Baines decide which combatant is the bravest.
James Frey and Mark Vernon talk blasphemy at the ICA (6.45pm, £12 / £11 / £10).
The Quiet Volume for the London Word Festival continues at Bishopsgate Library until Friday (various times, £12 for two people).
If you're wondering why the hell there are so many Russians in town, it's because The London Book Fair has a Russian flavour this year. Lev Danilkin, Francis Spufford and Orlando Figes explore that 1950s/60s Soviet Dream at the Southbank Centre (7.45pm, £10). Over at Foyles, Grigory Chkhartishvili - aka Boris Akunin - talks detective fiction (6.30pm, free).
Tim Armstrong is at Housmans looking at African-American literature, in particular Toni Morrison's Beloved (7pm, £3).
Ambit is back at the Betsey Trotwood with a new issue and Kate Potts, Nick Parker and Nick Sweeney for company (7pm, free).
Thursday: More Russians! Catch the shape of the country's literary future in Igor Savelyev, Lev Oborin, Alisa Ganieva and Anna Starobinets at the Southbank Centre (7.45pm, £10); Henry Porter, Christopher Andrew, Sergei Kostin and, if you missed him yesterday at Foyles, Boris Akunin discuss spies at the Courtauld Institute (7pm, £12 / £10); Sergei Lukyanenko and Dmitry Glukhovsky gaze into the future of Russian SF at Foyles (6.30pm free); Pavel Kostin and Andrei Kuzechkin talk about their new books at the Free Word Centre (6.30pm, £6 / £3); and Slam! poet Andrey Rodionov is at the Poetry Cafe (6.30pm, free).
Pete the Temp and Jeff Cottrill join regulars Rob Auton, Dan Cockrill and Martin Galton at Bang Said the Gun (8pm, £5).
The Highgate Poets read from their new collection at the Big Green Bookshop from 7pm.
Alien Nation calls Isobel Dixon, Dzifa Benson, Reg Starkey and Sarah Lyall to its banner at the Great Western Studios (7pm).
Five Enitharmon Press poets - Alan Brownjohn, Martyn Crucefix, Jane Duran, Martha Kapos and Myra Schneider - are at Lauderdale House (8pm, £5 / £3).
Friday: At the time of writing there are still tickets available for the Josephine Hart Poetry Hour at the National Theatre (6pm, £3.50 / £2.50), tying in with Frankenstein and going all Romantic on us. Don't expect Benedict Cumberbatch or Jonny Lee Miller - they're performing an hour later and probably have better things to do - but Dan Stevens, Damian Lewis and Harriet Walter are on hand to read. Can't say fairer.
The first Rowan Arts Poetry Slam! arrives at the Floirin pub on Holloway Road. First 12 poets at the door get a chance to compete (8pm, £3 / £2 performers).
Saturday: London Word Festival shifts The Quiet Volume to Hackney Library today and Monday-Thursday (various times, £12 for two people).
Niki Orfanou is back at the Poetry Cafe telling more stories, this time about the Enigma of Emilie (7.30pm, £5).
Sunday: Head to Hackney's Pembury Tavern from 3pm for a free Scrabble tournament, courtesy of the London Word Festival.
Lynette Craig, Moris Farhi, Esmail Khoi and Fathieh Saudi attempt to bridge the cultural divide, at the Jewish Museum in Camden (7.30pm).
Monday: Poet in the City curates a night of urban poetry: Elaine Feinstein, Tobias Hill and Anna Robinson read at Kings Place (7pm, £9.50).
Private View from the London Word Festival is an evening of performance inspired by striptease (8pm, £8.50 / £10.50).
Amanda Foreman, Fergal Keane, Hisham Matar, Victor Gregg and Rick Stroud, and Luke Wright are the tale-tellers at 5x15 (6.45pm, £20 / £15)
Tuesday: The fantastic Wendy Cope is at Foyles talking about her new book, Family Values (6.30pm, free).
Ross Sutherland, Nikesh Shukla, Nathan Penlington, Paul Granjon, Tamarin Norwood and FOUND explore the relationship between man and machine for the London Word Festival (7.30pm, £8 / £10).
Jodi Picoult talks about her latest book at Cadogan Hall (7pm, £15).
Erotic novelist and general brilliantist Molly Parkin is at the Idler Academy talking about her life (6.30pm, £20).
There's a series of poetry workshops at the Coin Street neighbourhood centre for you to unleash your inner meter (11am-2pm, free).
Niall O'Sullivan hosts open mic night Poetry Unplugged at the Poetry Cafe (7.30pm, £4 / £3).
Inua Elams and Bernard Kops join Ruth O'Callaghan for the Lumen Poetry Series (6.30pm, £5 / £4).
Taking a ride on the poetry Blue Bus are Paul Holman, matt martin and, launching his new book, SJ Fowler (7.30pm, £5 / £3).
