Literary Calendar
Events for April 15, 2014 through May 14, 2014
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The importance of science: Bill Bryson at the Royal Society
He has been given the President’s Award by the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Bradford Washburn Award by the Museum of Science in Boston and has been made an honorary Fellow of the Kavli Institute of Particle Physics, the British Science Association and the Royal Society. Yet renowned author Bill Bryson claims to have been a terrible student of science in school. Join Bill as he speaks to Professor Jim Al-Khalili about his personal experiences and perspectives on science, from&hellip
Alan Johnson on This Boy, Daunt’s Marylebone
The former Home Secretary on his beautifully written memoir of a troubled but ultimately triumphant childhood in the 50′s and 60′s.  
Lara Feigel in conversation with Selina Hastings on The Love-Charm of Bombs, Daunt’s Marylebone
The bombs of the Second World War wrought terrible destruction on London, but they were also a ‘love-charm’ for the city’s inhabitants. Freed from the responsibilities of normal life, many Londoners succumbed to the thrill of wartime passion. In her extraordinary work – part history, part biography and part literary criticism – Lara Feigel describes the Second World War as experienced by five of the best writers of the day: Elizabeth Bowen, Graham Greene, Rose Macaulay, Hilde Spiel and Henry&hellip
Danny Dorling with Ed Howker, Southbank Centre
Why are the British so obsessed with house prices? Housing was at the heart of the financial collapse, and our economy is now precariously reliant on the housing market. What does it mean for our future? Tracing how we got to our current crisis and how housing has come to reflect class and wealth in Britain, Danny Dorling’s new book All That Is Solid radically shows that the solution to our problems – rising homelessness, a generation priced out of home ownership&hellip
Canongate’s Letters Live, Southbank Centre
Letters Live celebrates the enduring power of literary correspondence. Inspired by To the Letter by Simon Garfield and Letters of Note by Shaun Usher, Letters Live celebrates letters. All reviews for To the Letter by Simon Garfield All reviews for Letters of Note by Shaun Usher From Virginia Woolf’s heart-breaking suicide letter to the recipe for drop scones sent by Queen Elizabeth II to President Eisenhower; from the first recorded use of the expression ‘OMG’ in a letter to Winston Churchill, to Gandhi’s appeal to Hitler for calm; and from&hellip
Sarah Hall, A.L. Kennedy, Helen Simpson, Southbank Centre
Three of our greatest short story writers read a story that questions what it means to be human. Following on from our discussion on the art of curiosity, three leading authors read a story that questions what it means to be human; to live, to love, to fall ill, to suffer a head injury, and even to change species altogether. Helen Simpson reads The Scan, AL Kennedy reads Knocked, and Sarah Hall reads her winning entry from the BBC’s Short Story competition: Mrs&hellip
5×15, Wilton’s Music Hall
Wellcome Prize nominees, Sarah Wise, Elizabeth Gilbert and Emily Mayhew at Wilton’s Music Hall. All reviews More information
Auden And Us with Alexander McCall Smith and Edward Mendelson, Courtauld
W.H. Auden once called poetry “a way of happening”, and in his own work the way was a marvellous one, striking a deep, popular chord. His “Funeral Blues” provides the only moment of gravity in Four Weddings and a Funeral; “September 1, 1939” was faxed around New York in the aftermath of 9/11. For Alexander McCall Smith, creator of the bestselling No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, Auden has for many years acted as a kind of invisible moral tutor, informing his responses&hellip
5×15, The Tabernacle
Charmian Gooch, Akhil Sharma, Miranda Carter, Henry Marsh, Ian McEwan at 5×15 More information
Philip Hensher on The Emperor Waltz, Southbank Centre
Philip Hensher reads from his new novel The Emperor Waltz. The Emperor Waltz is described by the author as ‘a big, camp epic about books, AIDS, boyfriends, money, political protest and the importance of not having your bathroom suite in avocado.’ Hensher is joined by Rebecca Chance, LaJohn Joseph, Kiki Archer and Sophie Ward. Paul Burston’s celebrated Polari salon provides a platform for new and emerging LGBT literary talent and showcases the very best in queer writing More information  
Akhil Sharma with David Sedaris
Akhil Sharma was born in Delhi in 1971 and moved to the US at the age of eight. His first novel An Obedient Father (2001) won him a PEN/Hemingway prize, a Whiting Award, and praise from the likes of Jonathan Franzen and Joyce Carol Oates. Now, more than a decade later, Akhil will be at the shop to read from and talk about his second novel Family Life (Faber). Lorin Stein wrote of it in the Paris Review: ‘With acid, deceptively artless prose and a faultless&hellip
Deyan Sudjic on B is for Bauhaus, Daunt’s Marylebone
Director of the Design Museum, Deyan Sudjic, will be in conversation with Stephen Bayley, author and design critic, as they consider the modern world through the lens of design. All reviews for B is for Bauhaus. More information
The Royal Society and science fiction
Farah Mendlesohn is head of department for English, Communication, Film and Media at Anglia Ruskin University. The lone (mad) scientist is a common trope in science fiction, but hidden away is a fascination with secret and semi-secret societies who work for the future of all mankind. This talk will look at the representation of the Royal Society in science fiction and fantasy as fact, fantasy and metaphor. More information here
Irvine Welsh with Alex Clark, Southbank Centre
The launch of Irvine Welsh’s new novel. Featuring murder, depravity and revenge – and enormous amounts of food and sex - The Sex Lives of Siamese Twins taps into two great obsessions of our time – how we look and where we live – and tells a story so subversive and dark it blacks out the Florida sun. Irvine Welsh is in conversation with Alex Clark. More information
Louise Doughty on okapis, London Zoo
ZSL conservation scientists and keepers team up with leading writers to talk about the animals in ZSL London Zoo. Alongside the animals, the writers speak imaginatively about their responses to them and ZSL’s experts talk about their ecology and conservation. The audience will be able to ask questions of author, scientist and keeper and have books signed over a glass of wine. These unique evenings will be held within the animal houses of ZSL London Zoo. Louise Doughty Louise Doughty&hellip
Neel Mukherjee on The Lives of Others, Southbank Centre
Neel Mukherjee reads from his powerful new book, The Lives of Others. Set in Calcutta in 1967, it tells the story of Supratik, who has become dangerously involved in extremist political activity, compelled by an idealistic desire to change his life and the world around him. All he leaves behind him is a note. For the launch of The Lives of Others, Neel Mukherjee reads and talks about the story of Supratik’s family; a family unraveling as the society around it fractures.&hellip
Val McDermid on crime fiction, Kings Place
Crime Writer Val McDermid and Group Analyst Sue Einhorn explore the world of crime fiction where human taboos of murder, incest, violence are broken and the human struggle with mortality is violently exposed. Award-winning crime writer Val McDermid is the founder and life force behind the Harrogate Crime Festival and is a powerful, fascinating presence in her own right. Her first novel was published in 1987. Today she is a No. 1 bestseller, translated into more than 30 languages, with over two million copies&hellip
Changing Sexual Mores with Shereen El Feki, Asia House
Sex is entwined with religion, tradition, gender and politics across Asia. It makes the perfect lens for examining the region’s complex social landscape. This evening, we take a serious but illuminating look at dating, love, marriage, divorce and LGBT culture in the Middle East, India and Pakistan. Shereen El Feki works on issues related to health and social welfare in the Arab region — including intimate attitudes toward sexual (and political) freedoms, as explored in her book, Sex and the Citadel. She has&hellip
John Keay on Midnight’s Descendants, Asia House
If British India had not been partitioned in 1947, its population would today be the world’s largest. At around 1.5 billion, midnight’s descendants South Asians already outnumber Europeans and Chinese; and they are growing faster than either. They comprise all the peoples of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Midnight’s Descendants: South Asia from Partition to the Present Day is the first history of the region as a whole. Correlating and contrasting the fortunes of all the constituent nations over&hellip