Book Grocer: 27 April-3 May

Rachel Holdsworth
By Rachel Holdsworth Last edited 155 months ago
Book Grocer: 27 April-3 May

The week ahead in literary London

Wednesday: Emmy the Great and Jack Underwood have mined the Dewey Decimal System and come up with The Goodbye Library for the London Word Festival. Elizabeth Sankey, Miriam Elia, Nikesh Shukla and Joe Dunthorne present a lament for the library (7.30pm, £9 / £11).

Kate Tempest plays the Soho Theatre at the behest of Apples and Snakes. Joining her are G.R.E.E.d.S, ZK the Poet and Lady Rhymes (8pm, £8 / £6).

Head to Housmans for the re-launch of Gene Sharp's From Dictatorship to Democracy, about toppling dictatorships nonviolently, cited as inspiration by Egypt's Tahrir Square protesters (7pm, £3).

Football fans get to Daunt Books in Cheapside for Catrine Clay and Rob White telling tales of Bert Trautmann and John White (6.30pm, £5).

Sebastian Hayes hosts The Traces They Wished To Leave at the Poetry Cafe with Robert Yates and Salah Niazi (7.30pm, £5 / £3).

Thursday: For the London Word Festival, Debbie Pearson uses old video footage to examine her past in Like You Were Before (7pm), while Chris Goode presents a responsive piece of evolving storytelling in Keep Breathing (8.30pm; tickets £8 each or £12.50 for the double bill).

Richard Wiseman is at Foyles, explaining how the idea of paranormal phenomena allows fascinating insights into the brain, rather than evidence of ghouls and ghosts (6.30pm, free but reserve a place in advance).

Niall O'Sullivan and Mab Jones join the usual Bang Said the Gun crew of Dan Cockrill, Martin Galton and Rob Auton. Plus the Raw Meat Stew open mic spots (8pm, £5).

Simon Barraclough hosts Salt Poets Liane Strauss, Andrew Philip and Rob Mackenzie at the Wheatsheaf (7pm, £3).

Exiled Writers Ink! take over the Railroad Cafe-Restaurant with Nigar Hasan-Zadeh, Ziba Karbassi and Rahila Khalwa (8.30pm, £3).

Stephanie Gerra, Andrew Cuthbert, Bob Goody and Wendy Shutler are Bloomsbury Voices at the Poetry Cafe (8pm, £6 / £4).

Ambit launch their latest issue at Kentish Town's Owl Bookshop, in the company of Carole Satyamurti, Jenny Lewis, John Harvey, Vikram Kapur - and you (7pm, free).

Friday: You've got all weekend to catch The Crash, from the London Word Festival. Joe Dunthorne, Tom Basden, James Wilkes and Francesca Millican-Slater find out what happened to a bunch of hedge fund managers who mysteriously disappeared three years ago... Iain Sinclair guest lectures on Friday (2pm / 2.30pm, £10 / £12).

Saturday: If you're going on the  Camden Crawl be sure to check out Litro Live! at the Heroes Bar. Sean Mahoney introduces Joe Dunthorne, Stuart Evers, John Osborne, Colin Grant and David Szalay (day tickets £42.65).

Geraint Anderson, AKA Cityboy, is the guest lecturer at The Crash for the London Word Festival (2pm / 2.30pm, £10 / £12).

John Lyons, Maggie Butt, Wendy French and Kaye Lee perform Poetry in Palmers Green (7.30pm, £5 / £3.50).

Sunday: Poejazzi takes over the Volupte Lounge with Nii Parkes, Mikey Kirkpatrick, Ice and Fire and Adrian and the Exiles (6.30pm, £10).

David Aaronovitch takes the lectern for today's performances of The Crash from the London Word Festival (2pm / 2.30pm, £10 / £12).

Torriano Poets this week are Cralan Kelder, David Miller and Crispin Bonham Carter - one for Jane Austen fans? (7.30pm, £5 / £3).

Monday: Try out for a spot at tomorrow's Utter! Coalition / AV special by joining the writing group at Sheephaven Bay (6.30pm, free for newcomers / £2 / £4).

Tuesday: Seize a rare opportunity to see Canadian experimental poet Christian Bök at the London Word Festival, joined by Luke Kennard, Maria Fusco, Ben Gwalchmai and MC Ross Sutherland (7.30pm, £6.50 / £8).

Utter! celebrates or commiserates on a year of the coalition government. Dead Poets, Lucy Leagrave and Tamsin Kendrick, Prude & Arrogant and Alan Woolfson join host Richard Tyrone-Jones - plus, test out AV in the paid gig contest (7.30pm, £5 / £7).

Book ahead: First Story are hosting a literary lunch with David Mitchell at the Ognisko Polish Club on Thursday 5th May. You'll need to email literarylunches@firststory.org.uk to get more details about times, prices, etc, but it's worth investigating.

Last Updated 27 April 2011