Literary Calendar
Events for May 31, 2014 through June 25, 2014
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Lorrie Moore on Bark, Southbank Centre
Lorrie Moore reads from Bark, her first collection of short stories in 15 years. All reviews for Bark by Lorrie Moore In Debarking, a newly divorced man tries to keep his wits about him as the US prepares to invade Iraq. In Foes, a political argument goes grotesquely awry as the events of 9/11 unexpectedly manifest at a fundraising dinner in Georgetown. In The Juniper Tree, a teacher, visited by the ghost of her recently deceased friend, is forced to sing ‘The Star Spangled&hellip
Helen Garner and Helen Simpson, King’s College
Since her first novel, Monkey Grip, appeared in 1977, Helen Garner has been one of Australia’s most admired writers of fiction, reportage, essays and criticism. Her first non-fiction book, The First Stone (1995), in which she analyses a case of sexual harassment at Melbourne University, caused a sensation. In The Spare Room(2008), she fictionalises the harrowing story of a close friend’s terminal illness, in a novel dealing with death in a voice that is acute, funny, unsentimental and painfully truthful. The Observer described it as ‘an&hellip
Alessandro Baricco talks to Jonathan Coe about The Save the Story series, LRB
The Save the Story series commissions celebrated writers from around the world to rewrite classic tales for children. Conceived by Alessandro Baricco in collaboration with Scuola Holden in Turin, the series is being published in English for the first time by Pushkin Press. Titles published so far have included Ali Smith’s retelling of Antigone, Yiyun Li’s version of Gilgamesh and Andrea Camilleri’s adaptation of Gogol’s The Nose. More information
Women’s Prize for Fiction, Southbank Centre
The shortlisted authors for the Women’s Prize for Fiction read their work. Now in its 19th year, the Women’s Prize for Fiction was set up to celebrate excellence, originality and accessibility in writing by women throughout the world. Now sponsored by Baileys for the first time, this is the UK’s most prestigious annual book award for fiction written by a woman and also provides a range of educational, literacy or research initiatives to support reading and writing. This event sees&hellip
Nick Harkaway talks to Sam Leith, Radisson Blu Edwardian Bloomsbury
Literary fans will have a fantastic chance to delve further into the inspirations behind Tigerman, the latest work of the celebrated novelist Nick Harkaway. In Sam Leith’s words: “On June 10th, I’m very pleased to say, we’re going to be hosting the enviably smart and inventive Nick Harkaway at the next Hidden Prologues salon at the Bloomsbury Street Hotel. He’s going to be talking about his new book Tigerman. Nick’s feelings on the subject being as they are I shan’t post&hellip
Tristram Hunt on Ten Cities that made an Empire,
The award-winning author of The Frock-Coated Communist, and fast-rising political star Tristram Hunt MP has turned his attention to Britain’s imperial past and its continued legacy in the lives and structures of the cities which it shaped. In Ten Cities that Made an Empire he uses a primary accounts and personal reflection to chart the processes of exchange and adaptation that collectively shaped the colonial experience and, in turn, transformed the culture, economy and identity of the British Isles. This talk takes&hellip
Pedro G Ferreira talks about The Perfect Theory with Marcus du Sautoy, LRB
Almost a century after Einstein first proposed it, the full ramifications of the General Theory of Relativity are still being debated. Pedro Ferreira is Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Oxford, and his new book The Perfect Theory brings to life both the science and the scientific controversies which have surrounded the General Theory since its conception. Pedro will be in conversation with Marcus du Sautoy, who has written of him ‘You couldn’t ask for a better guide to&hellip
At Home With Penguins with Tim Blackburn, Vicky Fyson, Sara Wheeler, RSL
In her twenties, travel writer Sara Wheeler spent seven months camping in the Antarctic as the US National Science Foundation’s first female writer-in-residence at the South Pole. Day after day, queues of Emperor penguins followed her about – they belonged there, after all, whereas she was just a visiting writer. But in the zoo, roles are reversed. For this event, part of the ZSL Writers Talks on Endangered Animals series and chaired by poet and ZSL Trustee Ruth Padel, the&hellip
Lynn Barber on A Curious Career, Daunt Books Marylebone
Following on from the sparkling first part of her memoir, An Education, Lynn Barber takes us through her early career at Penthouse where she started out interviewing foot fetishists, voyeurs and men who liked wearing nappies, through her later more eminent career at the Telegraph, Sunday Express, Vanity Fair, Observer and Sunday Times for whom she interviewed politicians, films stars and musicians such as Gore Vidal, Rudolph Nureyev, Lady Gaga, James Stewart and Dirk Bogarde to name but a few. Characterised by her witty and honest style. Deborah Ross, author&hellip
Gruff Rhys, Ben Macintyre, Jonathan Beckman, Rupert Isaacson, Lynn Barber
Gruff Rhys, Ben Macintyre, Jonathan Beckman, Rupert Isaacson, Lynn Barber. Reviews for A Curious Career by Lynn Barber More information
Virginia Woolf In The 21st Century with Maggie Gee and Alexandra Harris, RSL
If Virginia Woolf came back to life today, what would she make of it? How would she feel about what’s happening to books, and to the reputation of her own books, and of the Bloomsbury group? The acclaimed novelist Maggie Gee, whose thirteen previous books include The White Family, My Cleaner and My Animal Life, this month publishes her new novel, Virginia Woolf in Manhattan, which imagines what ensues when an author working in the New York Public Library becomes so passionate about Woolf that&hellip
Chris Darke and Brian Dillon on the literary work of filmmaker Chris Marker, LRB
Film-maker, graphic designer, animator, cartoonist, photographer, internet and new media pioneer, installationist, novelist, critic, publisher – the French artist Chris Marker, who died in 2012 on the day of his 91st birthday was as versatile as he was prolific. He is best known for his film masterpieces Sans Soleil and La Jetée (the inspiration for Terry Gilliam’s Twelve Monkeys) but his influence has been felt, perhaps even more keenly since his death, in almost every field of artistic endeavour. In an evening of readings, screenings&hellip
Bloomsbury Book Club with Kwasi Kwarteng
Historian and MP Kwasi Kwarteng discusses War and Gold, a unique look at the financial world and its troubled history, with his Bloomsbury Editor, Michael Fishwick. Join us for a captivating look at the financial world and its troubled history, with drinks and a book signing with Kwasi. Spanning from the disaster that befell Spain in the sixteenth century to the 2008 global financial crisis, War and Gold is an ambitious and unique study of money from the acclaimed author of Ghosts of Empire. Kwasi Kwarteng turns&hellip
Sigrid Rausing talks to Simon Sebag-Montefiore about Everything is Wonderful
In 1993, Sigrid Rausing, the owner of publishers Granta, spent a year living in the village of Purksi in Estonia. Purksi was the site of the Lenin Collective Farm, a dilapidated reminder of the total control the USSR had enjoyed over the area just two years previously. This book charts her experiences on the former collective farm, the trials of the people she met in a nation which had enjoyed just nineteen years of independence in four centuries and the&hellip
What We Remember on Penelope Lively, RSL
In this workshop, Penelope Lively will explore the borders between memoir writing and fiction. What do we remember, and why? How reliable are our memories? Discussion will focus on some of the books from the reading list, and class members will be invited to have a go themselves – a short burst of memoir, as imaginative as they please. Penelope Lively was twice shortlisted for the Booker Prize before winning it in 1987 for her novel Moon Tiger. She has also won&hellip
Lunch with Ivan Vladislavić and And Other Stories, Hardy’s Brasserie
The second supper club from And Other Stories – except that, as this is a Saturday, they thought they’d make it lunch instead! According to them… What to expect? A delicious meal, a chance to celebrate Ivan Vladislavić’s novels The Restless Supermarket and Double Negative, and a small gathering of like-minded people you will enjoy chatting to. As well as the author, Stefan and Nicci from And Other Stories will be there as well as a number of our readers, subscribers&hellip
Where Do You Go To, My Lovely? A Salon London at Foyles
In a mid-year summer slump, want to hit your creative brain with a defibrillator? Wait, government tech advisor and digital pin-up Ben Hammersely has spent the last year working out how to get your brain in optimum health for creative thought. Pens out. Learn from Ben. Salon London makes you superhuman: Want to understand the colour of music and the taste of words? World synaesthesia expert Professor Michael Banissy (author of Superhumans) will explain the world of the synaesthetes, those people who experience everything through&hellip
The Secret Life of Buildings: Bloomsbury Salon with Tom Wilkinson & Tom Campbell
What are the economic, erotic, political and psychological impacts of architecture on people? Novelist Tom Campbell and art historian Tom Wilkinson explore the secret life of buildings and their influence on people and their lives. Architecture moulds us just as much as we mould it, and understanding architecture helps us to understand our lives and our world, argues Tom Wilkinson. His book, Bricks and Mortalsreveals the powerful and intimate relationship between society and architecture through ten great buildings across the world and asks: can architecture&hellip
Rachel Holmes on Eleanor Marx, Southbank Centre
Rachel Holmes heads the bill with her new book on the life on Eleanor Marx. The former Head of Literature and Spoken Word at Southbank Centre, Holmes was recently one of the editors of Fifty Shades of Feminism. More information
The Ultimate Romantic Hero: Darcy or Rochester?
Darcy and Rochester represent the epitome of the romantic hero. But what would they really have been like to live with? Are they better on the page? We debate the desirability – and the horror – of two of the greatest figures in English literature. Melvyn Bragg has edited, produced and presented a wealth of award-winning documentaries and programmes across the cultural spectrum. Tanya Gold writes for The Guardian, The Daily Mail, The Times and The Independent. Fay Weldon CBE, is a novelist, screenwriter and essayist,&hellip