Book, poetry and spoken word events in London this week
Wednesday: Luke Wright brings his Cynical Ballads show to the Soho Theatre until Saturday. He wrote a poem about the election for us; we like him a lot (9.15pm, £12.50 / £10).
Catch Andrew Motion (pictured) talking about his Treasure Island sequel at Canada Water Library (7.30pm, £10 / £8).
Young Adult authors Amy Plum, Sara Grant, C J Daugherty and Ruth Warburton are talking about their work at Foyles Charing Cross Road (6.30pm, free).
Pam Zinneman-Hope recreates the flight of her mother and father from from Germany and Russia, at the Poetry Cafe (7.30pm).
Young British Poets for Oxfam launches a new anthology at the Poetry Library, with readings from Kim Lockwood, Beverley Nadine, Rachael Boast, Paul Adrian and Meirion Jordan (8pm, free).
Thursday: There's a series of poetry shows at Marylebone's Cockpit Theatre this week. Pete the Temp is attempting to defeat climate change tonight from 7.30pm (£8 / £6).
Six authors who contributed to the anthology Phobophobia are talking about terror at Wood Green's Big Green Bookshop (7pm, free).
Friday: Marvellous John Hegley is joined by fellow poets Cynthia Hamilton, Lara A King, Julian Daniel and Thick Richard at the Cockpit (8pm, £8 / £6).
Literary Death Match is part of the Land of Kings festival. If you've got a pass (£20 / £30) you can see Jon McGregor, Isley Lynn, Sam Mills and Nat Luurtsema battle it out for the approval of Salena Godden, Stuart Evers and Charlie Dark (9pm).
Take tea with a terrorist (not an actual terrorist: storyteller Sameena Zehra) at the Tea Box in Richmond (8pm, £6).
Patience Agbabi reads from The Canterbury Tales Revisited at Poetry on the Water in Greenwich (7pm, free).
Saturday: John Agard talks about cricket – poetically – at the Cockpit Theatre (6pm, £9 / £7 / £5). His show's followed by a Poet Jam featuring Stephanie Turner, Jessie Durrant, Indigo Williams, Simon Mole, Zia Ahmed and Nadia Khomani (8.30pm, £5).
Giles Kristian will start writing the follow up to Bleeding Land, the first book in a Civil War trilogy, at Waterstones Richmond from 1pm.
Celebrate NAWE's ezine Myths of the Near Future with readings at the Poetry Cafe (2pm).
Tuesday: Ben Okri goes to Foyles to talk about his first poetry collection in a decade (6.30pm, free).
Paul Green and Laurie Duggan present their new poetry collections at Swedenborg Hall, part of the Shearsman Reading Series (7.30pm, free).
Try out your own stuff at the Poetry Cafe's Poetry Unplugged open mic night, hosted by Niall O'Sullivan (7.30pm, £5 / £4).
VG Lee, Danuta Kean, Barbara Ewing, Will Davis and Peter Daniels are the guests at salon Polari (7.45pm, £5).
Book ahead: Hilary Mantel talks about the sequel to Wolf Hall, Bring up the Bodies, at the Southbank Centre on Friday 18 May (£15 / £12).
Follow @LondonistLit for our pick of that day’s literary events. Photo of Andrew Motion by Adrian Mealing.
