Literary Calendar
Events for January 27, 2014 through February 24, 2014
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Frank Furedi on the First World War, Foyles
Dr Frank Furedi is a social commentator and author and emeritus professor of sociology at the University of Kent in Canterbury. His latest book argues that the battle of ideas which crystallized during the course of the Great War continues to the present, and claims that the Culture Wars of today are the latest expressions of a century long conflict. So, is this a contemporary analysis; crass comparison or simply First World War anniversary porn? Book tickets/more information
Germaine Greer at Kings Place
The author of The Female Eunuch tells us how she embraced the fight to bring back a forest in her native Australia. Expect Germaine Greer to bring the same passion with which she defended feminist issues to the essential challenge faced by our planet’s biodiversity. Book tickets/more information
Jonathan Lethem on his book Dissident Gardens, LRB
Jonathan Lethem’s latest book Dissident Gardens (Cape) tells, in a ‘torrent of potent voices, searing ironies, popculture allusions, and tragicomic complexities’ the story of three generations of a radical New York family, at the same time painting a vivid portrait of the American Century. Book tickets/more information
Bookslam at Clapham Grand
January sees us attack the new year head-on with an event as bracing as a stiff breeze, sweeping as a new broom and challenging as Anneka … we welcome two of the most creative thinkers we know (albeit of very different thoughts and very different talents) in, dare we say, an unusual masterstroke of programming. JONATHAN LETHEM is one of the most original, entertaining and important writers of contemporary American fiction. The author of ‘Motherless Brooklyn‘ and ‘The Fortress Of Solitude‘ introduces&hellip
Granta 126: Olivia Laing and Jonny Steinberg with Gaby Wood
In the new issue of Granta, writers remember, or invent, scenes from their own lives and the lives of others, exploring the textures of memory and loss, recovery and invention. to celebrate the launch of Granta 126: Do You Remembercontributors Olivia Laing and Jonny Steinberg discuss their work in the issue, with Daily Telegraph Literary Editor Gaby Wood. In ‘The Magic Box’, Olivia Laing searches for traces of David Wojnarowicz in the artist’s native New York as she delves into Wojnarowicz&hellip
Rob Delaney in conversation with Hadley Freeman, Foyles
Provocative, flirtatious, frequently filthy and downright aggravating (if your name’s Mitt Romney), Rob Delaney is the funniest man on Twitter (not our words, but those of Comedy Central). When he’s not entertaining millions by publicly teasing celebrities and big corporations, he’s also a passionately vocal supporter of women’s rights, gun control and universal healthcare, writing powerfully on his views for Viceand the Guardian (and lampooning his political adversaries to devastating effect in 140 characters). His memoir (‘A book as funny, sincere, weird, wet,&hellip
Rob Delaney at King’s Place
With over 1 million followers, he has been named one of the funniest people on Twitter and is known as one of America’s most brilliant stand-ups, a regular at the top US comedy venues, and for appearances on shows such as Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Conan. Rob will be performing a stand-up gig. He will also read short excerpts from his memoir Mother. Wife. Sister. Human. Warrior. Falcon. Yardstick. Turban. Cabbage. Book tickets/more information
James Wood, LRB Winter Lectures
James Wood explores the estrangement of voluntary emigration: the puzzling sense of losing the country you leave and failing to find another. Homelessness, in a word. James Wood is Professor of the Practice of Literary Criticism at Harvard. His books include four collections of critical essays, of which the latest is The Fun Stuff, and a novel, The Book against God. Book tickets/more information
A.L. Kennedy at Hidden Prologues with Sam Leith, Bloomsbury
A. L. Kennedy is the author of six novels, five short story collections and three works of non-fiction. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a regular contributor to the Guardian Online Blog. She has twice been selected as one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists and has won several prizes for her work, including the Costa Book of the Year. Hidden Prologues, the new monthly&hellip
Essie Fox, Samantha Ellis, Ben Johncock, Anna Whitwham at Drink, Shop, Do, Kings Cross
Essie Fox, Samantha Ellis, Ben Johncock, Anna Whitwham will be reading from their upcoming books at Drink, Shop, Do in Kings Cross. Essie Fox is the author of gothic Victorian novels The Goddess And The Thief, Elijah’s Mermaid, and The Somnambulist, all published by Orion. Samantha Ellis is the author of How To Be A Heroine - read the review roundup here. Ben Johncock is the author of Burning, Blue. Anna Whitwham is the author of Boxer Handsome. Drink, Shop, Do are a&hellip
Whale Cultures: Philip Hoare and Jessica Sarah Rinland, with John Burton, LRB
To mark the paperback publication of Samuel Johnson Prize-winning author Philip ‘Leviathan’ Hoare’s acclaimed new book The Sea Inside, we present an evening exploring the wondrous world of whales. One of our best non-fiction writers and a fine broadcaster, Hoare wrote and presented the BBC Arena film The Hunt for Moby-Dick and directed three films for BBC’s ‘Whale Night’. He was also co-curator, with Angela Cockayne, of the Moby-Dick Big Read . Artist film-maker Jessica Sarah Rinland focuses on whales&hellip
On Penelope Fitzgerald with Susannah Clapp, Alan Hollinghurst, Penelope Lively
‘I am drawn to people who seem to have been born defeated,’ Penelope Fitzgerald once wrote. She considered herself one of these, and despite great early promise lived much of her life in drudgery and near destitution. Then, in her late 50s, she began to write. Over the next two decades, she not only published three biographies, but nine brief and brilliant novels, four of which were shortlisted for the Booker, Offshore winning it. At 80, Fitzgerald found fame both&hellip
Discovering People: Alain de Botton, RGS
Bestselling author of books on love, art, travel, religion, architecture, current affairs and literature, Alain de Botton will discuss his ‘philosophy of everyday life’ with Martine Croxall (BBC). Join us for this thought-provoking conversation.Bestselling author of books on love, art, travel, religion, architecture, current affairs and literature, Alain de Botton will discuss his ‘philosophy of everyday life’ with Martine Croxall (BBC). Join us for this thought-provoking conversation. Book tickets/more information
Alain de Botton on The News, Daunt Books, Marylebone
Alain de Botton discusses his latest book The News (all reviews). He suggests that we invest the news with an authority and importance which used to be the preserve of religion – but what does it do for us? Mixing current affairs with philosophical reflections, de Botton offers a brilliant illustrated guide to the precautions we should take before venturing anywhere near the news. Book tickets/more information
A Finger in the Fishes Mouth: The Legacy of Derek Jarman
Film director, stage designer, diarist, artist, gardener and author Derek Jarman died on 19 February 1994. To mark the 20th anniversary of his death, we will be hosting an evening of readings and discussion. Our focus for the evening will be a little-known part of Jarman’s work, his poetry, and in particular the volume A Finger in the Fishes Mouth, recently reprinted in facsimile by the estimable Test Centre. Book tickets/more information  
Margaret Atwood in conversation with Peter Kemp, RSL
Margaret Atwood began writing poetry in high school, and the most thrilling moment of her writing career was the publication of her first poem: ‘I mean, all the other things that have happened since then were a thrill, but that was the biggest.’ She has gone on to publish 19 collections of poetry, as well as 14 novels – including The Handmaid’s Tale, The Blind Assassin and MaddAddam, published last summer. Organised and methodical in writing fiction, she writes poetry ‘in a state of&hellip
Toby Litt, Alex Preston, Holly Dawson at Waterstones Piccadilly
Don’t miss an unforgettable evening of readings and conversation in the company of Toby Litt, our Word Factory mentor Alex Preston and his apprentice Holly Dawson, at Waterstones’ flagship store in Piccadilly, Europe’s largest bookstore — brilliant fiction and a free glass of wine. Book tickets
Alain de Botton, Kings Place
The News: A User’s Manual looks at the peculiar place that ‘the news’ occupies in our lives. De Botton notes that we invest it with an authority which used to be the preserve of religion. But what does it do for us? Mixing current affairs with philosophy, de Botton offers a guide to the precautions we should take before venturing anywhere near the news and the ‘noise’ it generates. Book tickets/more information
Alison Macleod on Unexploded, Kings Place
Brighton, summer 1940. Fear of invasion brings unspoken desires to the surface as a middle-class English family anxiously awaits news. Geoffrey falls in love with a prostitute he suspects is a Jew; Evelyn is attracted to a ‘degenerate’ German-Jewish painter held in an internment camp. An exploration of chaos and xenophobia in an ordinary town, Unexploded was long-listed for the 2013 Man Booker Prize. Read all reviews for Unexploded. Book tickets/more information
5×15: Mike Figgis, Lisa Dwan, Melvyn Bragg, Sophie Hannah, Joe Klein
Mike Figgis, Lisa Dwan, Melvyn Bragg, Sophie Hannah, Joe Klein at the Tabernacle. Book tickets/more information