Author appearances, poetry and spoken word events in London this week

Wednesday 21 November: Simon Garfield turns his attention from fonts to maps at Daunt Books Marylebone (7pm, £8).

The people who brought you London Lies now bring you Stations, a short story anthology along the London Overground, at Clapham Books (7.30pm, free).

Hsiao-Hung Pai looks at China’s rural migrants at Foyles (6.30pm, free).

Pete Brown introduces his excellent history of Borough’s George Inn at the Richmond Literature Festival (7.30pm, £10 / £8.50).

Amber Ablett takes apart song lyrics (7pm, free) and there are songs and stories of Scott’s Antarctic expedition (7.30pm, free) at the Peckham Literary Festival.

Too many poets to list read Poems for Pussy Riot at the Free Word Centre (7pm, £3).

Apples and Snakes present four new 20 minute poems from Carmina Masoliver, Selina Nwulu, Anthony Hett and Errol McGlashan, mentored by Malika Booker. See them at the Gallery Cafe in Bethnal Green (7.30pm, £5 / £4).

Thursday 22 November: Former Poet Laureate Andrew Motion and Molly Naylor are the guests at Bang Said the Gun – who are quite excited about this gig (8pm, £5).

Glyn Maxwell presents his sell-out guide to poetry at the London Review Bookshop (7pm, £7).

Londonist Out Loud host N Quentin Woolf hosts the Open Pen event at the Shooting Star (7pm, £10 / £8).

Fabulous Joe Dunthorne is doing a reading and signing at The Book Box in Hackney (7pm, £3).

David Steel, Paul Flynn and Philip Norton discuss the Parliamentarians who have inspired them, at Portcullis House as part of Parliament Week (6pm, free).

Jonathan Dimbleby talks about El Alamein at the Richmond Literature Festival (3pm, £10 / £8.50), then Jane Robinson has a history of the Women’s Institute (7pm, £7.50 / £6).

Pairs of British writers and Israeli film-makers Tom Raworth and Avi Dabach, Emanuella Amichai and SJ Fowler, and Tim Atkins and Ran Slavin have teamed up to create Cinepoems, screened at Rich Mix (7.30pm, free).

Friday 23 November: Lisa Ballantyne and Charlie Campbell are at the Peckham Literary Festival to discuss blame and guilt in fiction and non-fiction (7pm, free).

John Hegley and Chris Hardy are the poets at Fourth Friday at the Poetry Cafe (8pm).

Nia Davies and Edward Mackay launch two new poetry pamphlets with Salt at The Betsey Trotwood (7.30pm, free).

Saturday 24 November: Enjoy a chocolate tasting with Chantal Coady at Daunt Books Marylebone (2pm).

Judith Kerr introduces her picture book The Great Granny Gang at the Richmond Literature Festival (11am, £5).

Colleen Laybourne-Smith reads from The Tales of Mr and Mrs Bartholomew Fox at Clapham Books (2pm, free).

Richard Barnett and Peter Hobbs debate what makes a good death, at the Peckham Literary Festival (7pm, free).

Chris Ford is at Housmans looking at the lessons of the 1839 Chartist Insurrection (6.30pm, £3).

John Sutherland, Andrew Biswell and Alexandra Spencer-Jones discuss Anthony Burgess at the Soho Theatre, ahead of a performance of A Clockwork Orange (5pm, free).

Sunday 25 November: Michael Frayn talks about his new novel Skios at the Richmond Literature Festival (2.30pm, £12).

Take the kids to Peckham to help Alexis Deacon build a giant in Review Bookshop’s basement (1-3pm, free).

Tom Basden hosts The Special Relationship at The Book Club, with guests Guy Ware and Alex MacDonald (6.30pm, £5).

Monday 26 November: Susie Boyt, Neil Alexander, Jeff Kristian and Cherry Smyth are the guests at Polari (7.45pm, £5).

Pankaj Mistra and Michael Wood talk about the end of the Qing, Ottoman and Mughal Empires at the British Library (6.30pm, £7.50 / £5).

Catherine Edmunds launches her new novel Serpentine with the Gruntlers at the Poetry Cafe (7pm).

Tuesday 27 November: Robert Crighton tells comic ghost stories at the Barons Court Theatre Tue-Sat until 6 January (various times, £12 / £10).

Ray Monk and Hermione Lee talk about biography – and they should know – at the London Review Bookshop (7pm, £7).

Book Slam starts a three-day extravaganza with David Nicholls, Diana Evans, Marques Toliver and Dan Antopolski at the Clapham Grand (7.30pm, £8 / £10).

Join Niall O’Sullivan for the Poetry Cafe‘s regular open mic night (7.30pm, £5 / £4).

A Blakean Poetry Festival kicks off at Pentameters Theatre in Hampstead (£10 / £8).

Follow @LondonistLit for our pick of that day’s literary events.

Author appearances, poetry and spoken word events in London this week

Wednesday 28 November: Roddy Doyle, AL Kennedy, Adam O’Riordan and host Alex Clark record the Vintage Podcast at the Queen’s Head near Piccadilly Circus (6.30pm, £5 for two tickets).

The middle of Bookslam‘s trilogy of events brings Jesse Armstrong, Peter Serafinowicz and Salena Godden to Rough Trade East (tickets free when you buy a book from them).

Poet Connie Bensley talks to Adam Phillips about her work at Lutyens and Rubinstein (7pm, £5).

Laurie Bolger hosts Jawdance at Rich Mix, featuring Sam Berkson, Yrsa Daley-Ward and more spoken word artists (7.30pm, free).

Former MP Chris Mullin talks about his political diaries – you might have seen A Walk On Part recently – at the National Theatre (6pm, £4 / £3), before a performance of the fantastic This House.

Martyn Crucefix talks about his translation of Rilke’s Sonnets to Orpheus at the Poetry Cafe (7.30pm, £5).

Thursday 29 November: We thoroughly enjoyed The Hardy Tree by Iphgenia Baal, so find out what she’s done next at Trolley Books, where she launches her new book of short stories Gentle Art (7pm, free).

Luke Wright, Jackie Kay and Stephen K Amos round off Bookslam‘s week of events at the Tabernacle (7.30pm, £8 / £10).

An exhibition celebrating 200 years of Grimm’s Fairy Tales opens at Foyles today.

Lyric L, Harry Baker, Simon Mole and Deanna Rodger perform at Chill Pill at the Albany in Deptford (7.30pm, £7 / £5).

Over the road at the Deptford Lounge, Arachne Press launch an anthology of short stories set along the London Overground (7pm, free).

Chris Redmond and Mel Jones are the guests at Bang Said the Gun‘s stand up poetry night (8pm, £5).

Saul Williams hosts a literary mix tape at the Southbank Centre with Warsan Shire, Inua Ellams and GREEdS (7.45pm, £15 / £12).

Watch Jane Bussman, Suzette Field, Kirsten Irving and Adam Biles fight it out for the title of Literary Death Match champion. Kate Williams, Boyd Hilton and Adam Kay pass judgement (7.30pm, £6 / £8).

Friday 30 November: Two of Londonist’s favourite spoken word artists, Inua Ellams and Jacob Sam-La Rose, are at the Richmond Literature Festival’s Salon tonight (7.30pm, £7 / £5.50). Also in Richmond, catch Essie Fox, DE Meredith and Lynn Shepherd talking about Victorian fiction (7pm, £10 / £8.50).

John Cooper Clarke is at Twisting Tongues in Hanover Square (7.30pm, £16.50).

Katie Young, Paul Goulden, Bentley Crudgington, Natasha Tripney, Emma Fleming, Julie Balloo, David Morgan and Liam Hogan read grown up fairytales at Are You Sitting Comfortably at Toynbee Studios (7.30pm, £8).

See an exhibition of messages found in secondhand books, at Foyles.

Kat Francois hosts a night of comedy and poetry at the Broadway Theatre in Catford, with Tashaka Campbell, Dana Michelle Alexander, Annette Fagon and Dominique ‘Variety D’ Davis (8.15pm, £17.50 / £15).

Saturday 1 December: Take the kids to the Southbank Centre to see John Hegley, BREIS and Francesca Beard mess with words at Apples and Snakes’s SPIN (11am, free).

Young Adult fantasy novelists James Dawson and Tom Pollock are at Clapham Books reading and talking about their books (2pm, free).

If you missed John Cooper Clarke yesterday, he plays The Albany in Deptford, hosted by Salena Godden and with support from Mike Garry (7.30pm, £16 / £12).

Michael Horovitz, Tim Cumming and Vanessa Vie take part in the New Moon Poetry Evening at MAP Studio Cafe in Kentish Town (8pm, £7).

Sunday 2 December: Rosemary Norman introduces Wendy French and Myra Barrs at Torriano Poets (7.30pm, £5 / £3).

Monday 3 December: Spend an hour with the Private Eye team, including Ian Hislop, Craig Brown, Harry Enfield, John Sessions, Jan Ravens and Lewis Macleod, at the National Theatre (5.45pm, £5 / £4).

Spark London spin stories at the Canal Cafe Theatre (7.30pm, £8).

Will Self hosts a discussion on modernist writing and thinking in contemporary culture at the Southbank Centre (7.45pm, £8).

Coffee House Poetry presents the annual Troubadour International Poetry Prize with Jane Draycott and Bernard O’Donoghue (8pm, £7 / £6).

Tuesday 4 December: Literary agent Hannah Ferguson is giving a talk at Writers’ Club Live (7pm, £15 / £20).

There’s a triple choice from Daunt Books: Howard Jacobson talks about his novel Zoo Time at Keats House (£5), James Stourton looks at the great houses of London in Marylebone (7pm, £8) and Catherine Bailey discusses her gothic mystery The Secret Rooms in Chelsea (7pm, £8).

Journalist Gavin Esler talks about his books with Richard Osley at the Big Green Bookshop (7pm, £3).

Brian Patten, Sam Berkson, Kate Tempest, Alan Howard, Christopher Reid, Kate Dimbleby, John Hegley and Michael Horovitz celebrate the life and work of Christopher Logue at the Southbank Centre (7.45pm, £10).

LiTTle MACHiNe bring their brand of poetry and music to Beyond Words at the Gipsy Hill Tavern (7.30pm, £4 / £3).

Follow @LondonistLit for our pick of that day’s literary events.

Author appearances, poetry and spoken word events in London this week

Wednesday 5 December: Michael Morpurgo talks about his life, work and new autobiographical short story at the National Theatre (6pm, £4 / £3).

The fabulous Ross Sutherland revives Every Rendition on a Broken Machine, a performance incorporating computer generated poetry and Clarissa Explains It All, at the Camden People’s Theatre (9pm, £10 / £8).

PCS union leader Mark Serwotka, Oxford philosopher David Wiggins and Professor Jo Edwards from UCL are at Housmans to discuss the crisis facing the public sector (7pm, £3).

Colm Tóibín chats with Hungarian writer László Krasznahorkai at the London Review Bookshop (7pm, £10).

Ruth O’Callaghan, Claire Booker, Will Burns and Michael Wyndham are just some of the poets reading at the launch of South Bank Poetry Issue 14 at the Poetry Cafe (7.30pm, £5.50 / £4.50, includes magazine).

Head to Europe House for an evening of Poems on the Underground with David Constantine and music by Bach and Bartok (7pm, free).

Eyewear celebrates Christmas and two new poetry collections – Dangerous Cakes by Elspeth Smith and Eighteen Poems by Simon Jarvis – at the Oxfam Bookshop in Marylebone (7pm, free).

Thursday 6 December: Howard Jacobson is talking about Zoo Time at the Bloomsbury Institute (6.30pm, £25 including book).

Hear short stories about the Overground at Brick Lane Bookshop (7pm, free).

Philip Pullman launches his Grimm Tales at the Southbank Centre (7.30pm, £15 / £12), followed by Francesca Beard and Ayanna Witter-Johnson giving a contemporary spin on fairytales (9pm, free).

Penned in the Margins launches Where Rockets Burn Through, an anthology of sci-fi poetry, at Toynbee Studios (7.30pm, free).

Alice Malin, Colette Sensier, Xanthi Barker, Devawn Wilkinson and Hannah Tuson launch Things That Have Happened, with Shaun Levin and Bernardine Evaristo, at Keats House (6.30pm, £7 including book).

Kate Mosse is signing copies of Citadel at Waterstones London Wall from 1pm.

Friday 7 December: Ben Goldacre talks about his latest book Bad Pharma at the Southbank Centre (7.45pm, £10), followed by science and rationalist comedy from Robin Ince (9.15pm, free).

Kat Francois hosts Intimates, a night of Slam Poetry at the Poetry Cafe (8pm, £5 / £3).

Ruth O’Callaghan presents Lumen/Camden Poetry competition winners Bob Cooper, Zelda Chappell, Peter Kennedy and Eleanor Vale at the Trinity United Reform Church (7pm, £5 / £4).

Seema Anand performs tales from Mughal epic the Hamzanama at the British Library (6.30pm, £7.50 / £5).

Saturday 8 December: Poetry and comedy go head to head with Apples and Snakes’s Stand Up & Slam at the Gallery Cafe. Rob Auton, Emma Jones and Keith Jarrett take on Dan Schreiber, Barry Ferns and Laura Lexx, plus Tim Clare, Paul Sweeney and Dan Simpson (7.30pm, £5).

Andy Stanton, author of the Mr Gum books, is signing copies at the Big Green Bookshop (11am-1pm).

Anne Applebaum talks about the Iron Curtain at the Southbank Centre (4pm, £10), then at 7.45pm you can catch Pat Barker discussing her latest novel Toby’s Room (£10).

Sunday 9 December: Gather at Daunt Books in Hampstead for a ramble on the Heath while discussing Elizabeth Taylor’s novel Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont (11.30am, free).

Adam Gopnik debates how our concept of ‘winter’ came about, at the Southbank Centre (2pm, £10).

Andrew Motion is reading at the Kentish Town Community Centre (7pm, £5 / £3).

Malika Booker, Rachel Rose Reid, HKB Finn and Keith Jarrett are all performing at Jazz Verse Jukebox (7.30pm, £8).

Monday 10 December: Ali Smith, Essie Fox, Joe Stretch and Tania Hershman are all reading at The Book Stops Here‘s Christmas special in Denmark Street (8pm, free).

Helen Smith, Bethan Roberts and Diriye Osman are guests at the ever-popular Polari at the Southbank Centre (7.45pm, £5).

Tuesday 11 December: There’s stories of Angels and Demons at Liars’ League at the Phoenix (7.30pm, £5).

If you missed Adam Gopnik on Sunday, catch him talking about winter at Daunt Books in Marylebone (7pm, £8).

Caitlin Moran, Clare Balding and Yotam Ottolenghi are three of the authors at Waterstones Piccadilly’s evening of festive fun from 5pm.

Niall O’Sullivan hosts the Poetry Cafe‘s open mic night from 7.30pm (£5 / £4).

Follow @LondonistLit for our pick of that day’s literary events. Photo is of the TASCHEN tree at Belgraves Hotel in Belgravia.

Author appearances, poetry and spoken word events in London this week

Wednesday 12 December: Waterstones Covent Garden is having a meet-the-author night, with Simon Garfield, Russell Norman, The Gentle Author (of Spitalfields Life), Eva Katzler and more (6pm).

Mike Marqusee reads from his poetry collection Street Music at Housmans (7pm, £3).

The 1901 Arts Club in Waterloo screens the 1994 South Bank Show that launched Simon Armitage, Carol Ann Duffy, Glyn Maxwell, Moniza Alvi and others to the public (6.30pm, £12.50).

Thursday 13 December: Bidisha gives a talk on Iris Murdoch at the National Portrait Gallery (7pm, £5 / £4).

Poet Aurélia Lassaque is joined by guest readers Amy Key, SJ Fowler, Jessica Pujol and Nia Davies at Housmans (7pm, free).

The Bang Said the Gun Christmas Extravaganza features Chris Lynam, Katie Bonna, Richard Marsh and the rest of the Bang Said crew at The Roebuck (8pm, £5).

Another chance to meet The Gentle Author and hear tales of Spitalfields, this time at the Brick Lane Bookshop (7pm, free, book ahead).

Foyles in Westfield White City hosts a Penguin Books pop up shop from 3pm.

Friday 14 December: PR Murray launches a new poetry collection, The Glowing Nightsoil Of The Concealed Emu, and readings from Zolan Quobble, Sue Johns, Emile Sercombe and Patric Cunnane at Dodo Modern Poets at the Poetry Cafe (8pm, £6 / £5).

Saturday 15 December: Young writers Paul Cree, Ben Fensome,  Elliot Barnes Worrell and Tori Truslow perform poetry and short stories at Pigeon Poetry at the Poetry Cafe (8pm, £3).

Sunday 16 December: Be part of the cashmob at Wood Green’s Big Green Bookshop between 2-2.30pm.

Christine Webb, Fiona Moore, Jon Sayers and John Mackinnon read translations of poems at Torriano Poets (7.30pm, £5 / £3).

Monday 17 December: Coffee House Poetry has readings on the theme of Lost (8pm, £7 / £6).

Tuesday 18 December: Michael Rosen starts six days of poems, stories, songs and jokes at the Pleasance in Islington (10.30am and 12.30pm, £9).

The Crick Crack Club presents a haunting fairy tale of loss by Daniel Morden, at the Soho Theatre (8pm, £9 / £7).

David Aaronovitch, TED fellow Rachel Armstrong, Carole Stone of YouGov and others gather at Foyles to decide who will win a battle of the books (6.15pm, free).

Niall O’Sullivan hosts the Poetry Cafe‘s regular open mic night (7.30pm, £5 / £4).

Ruth O’Callaghan hosts the Lumen Poetry Series, with guests John Gohorry and Iain Johnson (7pm, £5 / £4).

Wednesday 19 December: Ross Sutherland starts three nights at Battersea Arts Centre doing one of our favourite things from this year, his show Standby For Tape Back-Up: Scratch, a hypnotic poetry/video mashup (8.45pm, £5 / £3).

Vanessa Hidary presents The Last Kaiser Roll in the Bodega at Woolfson & Tay, plus an appearance by the North London Yiddish Choir (7pm, free).

Rosie Garland, David Ayres and Arnold Jansen op de Haar are at Poetry & Translation‘s Christmas party at the Poetry Cafe (7.30pm, free).

Follow @LondonistLit for our pick of that day’s literary events.

Author appearances, poetry and spoken word events in London this week

Wednesday 2 January: Philip Pullman talks about his version of Grimm’s fairy tales at the National Theatre (6pm, £4 / £3).

Friday 4 January: Highgate Poets launch their 26th volume of Urban Harvest with readings from Norbert Hirschhorn, Diana Bishop, Robert Peake and Annemarie Cooper at the Trinity United Reform Church in Camden (7pm, £5 / £4, all proceeds to Cold Weather Shelters).

Saturday 5 January: There’s poetry and general wassailing to mark Twelfth Night at Keats House (5pm, £6 / £5).

Monday 7 January: Graham Fawcett is leading a close reading and discussion of Elizabeth Bishop’s poem At The Fishhouses at the Rugby Tavern (6.30pm, £10).

Tuesday 8 January: Storyteller Jan Blake tells tales of taboos at the Soho Theatre (8pm, £9 / £7).

Anjali Joseph and Chibundu Onuzo are the guests of Tom Basden, Jarred McGinnis and Sam Taradash at The Special Relationship (7.30pm, £5).

Poet Christine Webb and playwright Claire Booker are at the Gipsy Hill Tavern for Beyond Words (7.30pm, £4 / £3).

Book ahead: Seamus Heaney, Simon Armitage and West End actors read from and talk about poetry at the Tricycle Theatre to raise money for English PEN (7pm, £35 / £50).

Follow @LondonistLit for our pick of that day’s literary events.

Author appearances, poetry and spoken word events in London this week

Wednesday 9 January: Jonathan Fenby talks about China past and present at Foyles (6.15pm, free).

Hear poets Claire Crowther, Timothy Adès, Sharon Morris and David Morley plus take part in a Q&A with Long Poem Magazine editors Ann Vaughan-Williams, Lucy Hamilton and Linda Black at the Southbank Centre (8pm, free).

US poets Melissa Buckheit, Maxine Chernoff and Jaime Robles take part in the latest Shearsman Reading Series at Swedenborg Hall (7.30pm, free).

Thursday 10 January: Short stories from Stations and London Lies read by the authors, at Bookseller Crow on the Hill from 7pm (free).

Tim Wells and Porky the Poet (AKA Phill Jupitus) join the regular crew for Bang Said the Gun at the Roebuck for a spot of stand up poetry (8pm, £5).

Chris Redmond hosts Tongue Fu at Rich Mix (8pm, £8 / £6), with John Hegley, Anna Freeman, Adam Kammerling and guests from the Roundhouse Poetry Collective.

Friday 11 January: Tim Parks and Swiss author Peter Stamm are in conversation at the London Review Bookshop (7pm, £10).

Adam Horovitz and guests are at the Poetry Cafe, with music from Adam Donen (7.30pm, £5).

Saturday 12 January: Take the kids to Ealing Broadway Waterstones to see Marianne Levy read from her latest Ellie May book (11am, free).

Tom Bland, Errol McGlashan and Benedict Newbery are the established acts performing at Platform 1 at the Poetry Cafe. Get there for 7.30pm to sign up for open mic (8pm, £5 / £4).

Sunday 13 January: Francesca Beard, Deanna Rodger, Zia Ahmed, Rosie Adé and Colin Salmon – yes, that Colin Salmon – join Jumoke Fashola for Jazz Verse Jukebox at Ronnie Scott’s (7.30pm, £8).

David Morley offers an overview of this year’s TS Eliot Prize (1pm, £11) before shortlisted poets read their work at the Southbank Centre (7pm, £15 / £12).

Tuesday 15 January: We really enjoyed Ian Kelly’s book about 18th century amputee playwright Samuel Foote. Kelly’s talking about it at the National Theatre (6pm, £4 / £3).

Apples and Snakes has helped produce The Rememberers at the Old Vic Tunnels, a live hip-hop graphic novel for teenagers. Performances until Friday, tickets £14 / £9 / £5).

Ariadne’s Thread launches its fourth issue at The Old Ship in Richmond (7.30pm, free).

The Poetry Cafe‘s regular open mic night is taking registrations between 6-7pm. Niall O’Sullivan hosts (7.30pm, £5 / £4).

Frances Presley and Geraldine Monk read at The Blue Bus in The Lamb (7.30pm, £5 / £3).

Chris McCabe, Lorraine Mariner, Pascal O’Loughlin and Chrissy Williams perform at the Lumen Poetry Series (7pm, £5 / £4, all proceeds to Cold Weather Shelter).

Follow @LondonistLit for our pick of that day’s literary events.

Author appearances, poetry and spoken word events in London this week

Wednesday 16 January: Andrew Kaufman, author of The Tiny Wife and the superlative All My Friends are Superheroes, is at Waterstones Piccadilly talking about his new novel Born Weird (6.30pm, £5 / £3).

Gillian Slovo, Ian Cobain, Clare Algar and Anna Perera take part in an English PEN discussion about the UK’s role in torture (6.30pm, £6).

Dr Louise Foxcroft looks at dieting through history, at the Wellcome Collection (7pm, free).

Thursday 17 January: If you missed Andrew Kaufman in Piccadilly, he’s with Tanya Byrne and hosts Marie Phillips and Scott Pack – and a lot of cake – in Windsor for the Firestation Book Swap (7.45pm, £5 or free with homemade cake).

Antipoet and Mark Niel are the guests at Bang Said the Gun at the Roebuck (8pm, £5).

There’s spoken word from Emma Bennett and Lucy Sheerman at polyPLY 23 (7pm, free).

Friday 18 January: Farrago launches a new SLAM! season at the RADA Foyer Bar with performances from UK SLAM! Champion Stephanie Dogfoot Chan, Anna Chen, Jasmine Cooray, Anthony Fairweather, Lori Zakiriyya King, Dudley Sutton and Werdplay (7.30pm, £6 / £5).

Miriam Nash launches her debut poetry pamphlet at Keats House, with Jacqueline Saphra and Kayo Chingyoni (6.30pm, free).

Saturday 19 January: n+1 editors Keith Gessen and Marco Roth will make a rare London appearance at UCL alongside LRB Editor Joanna Biggs and Pankaj Mishra (2pm, free but RSVP). Gessen and Roth’s event at the London Review Bookshop has already sold out, so get in fast.

Hear Music and Words (in the form of readings, poetry and storytelling) at The Gallery Cafe in Bethnal Green (7pm, £6 / £5).

Michael Horovitz gives a talk on Blake and Yeats at Keats House (3pm, £5).

Sunday 20 January: The Daunt Books walking book club discusses Iris Murdoch’s Under the Net while roaming Hampstead Heath. Meet at the South End Road bookshop at 11.30am.

Timothy Ades and Martina Thomson read from new translations of Victor Hugo and Paula Ludwig’s poetry at Torriano House in Kentish Town (7.30pm, £5 / £3).

Monday 21 January: Mark Billingham, Barry Forshaw, Laura Wilson, Robert Ryan and Carla Connelly are at the British Library talking about crime novels and true crime (6.30pm, £7.50 / £5).

Don Paterson is chatting to Adam Phillips at Lutyens & Rubinstein (7pm, £5).

Laydeez Do Comics bring Dr Muna Al-Jawad, John Mier and David Jesus Vignolli to Foyles (6pm, free).

Peter Daniels, Christina Dunhill, Peter Daniels and John Hegley are at the Poetry Cafe (7.30pm, £5 / £3).

Tuesday 22 January: Juliet Mushens of The Agency Group is talking at London Writers’ Club Live (7pm, £15 / £20).

Niall O’Sullivan hosts the Poetry Cafe‘s open mic night (7.30pm, £5 / £4).

Book ahead: There are still tickets available for Simon Armitage and Seamus Heaney at the Tricycle Theatre on 23 January (7pm, £35).

Follow @LondonistLit for our pick of that day’s literary events.

Author appearances, poetry and spoken word events in London this week

Wednesday 23 January: Nii Parkes, Maria Jastrzebska and Sofia Buchuck talk about what happens to poetry when the poet migrates, at the Free Word Centre (6.30pm, £6 / £4).

Mr Gee hosts Tolu Agbelusi, Raymond and Steve Duncan for Jawdance spoken word at Rich Mix (7.30pm, free).

Aidan Dun introduces Unholyland, his new poem about an Israeli DJ who falls in love with a Palestinian rapper, at Housmans (7pm, £3).

Sean O’Brien, Helen Mort, Jamie McKendrick and Deryn Rees-Jones read at the launch of Poetry London’s latest issue, at Foyles (6.30pm, free).

Mimi Khalvati and Chris McCabe launch the Poetry School‘s spring term at the Tea House Theatre in Vauxhall (7.30pm, free).

Thursday 24 January: POEM magazine launches at Europe House, with a reading from Sean O’Brien (6.30pm, free but you must RSVP in advance).

Discuss the future of literary magazines at the White Review’s sixth issue launch, at Foyles (6.30pm, free).

Kat Francois and Anthony Anaxagorou are the guests poets at Bang Said the Gun (8pm, £5).

Rack Press launches new poetry pamphlets from Susan Grindley, Rosalind Hudis, Ian Parks and Ian Pople at Lumen (6.30pm, free).

Palestinian poets Asma’a Azaizeh and Marwan Makhoul are at the Mosaic Rooms (7pm, free).

A new Bloodaxe anthology, Dear World & Everyone In It, launches at the Poetry Library in the Royal Festival Hall (8pm, free but book ahead).

Friday 25 January: Bookseller Crow on the Hill in Crystal Palace is the venue for the launch of The Love Child by Amanda Brookfield (7pm, free).

Jane Odiwe marks the 200th anniversary of Pride and Prejudice’s publication at Chipping Barnet Library (6.30pm, free).

Poetry comes from Ruth Valentine and Jacqueline Gabbitas at Fourth Friday at the Poetry Cafe, hosted by Hylda Sims (8pm, £6 / £5).

Saturday 26 January: Sharif Gemi is at Housmans, looking at women writing in Muslim societies (6.30pm, £3).

Bookstock is back at The Green Man by Great Portland Street station, with Keith Kahn-Harris, Ruby Soames, Ben Crystal, Tim Griggs, Andrew Byrne and Dave Chawner (7.30pm, £6).

Amy Key, Jacqui Saphra and Gale Burns host The Shuffle at the Poetry Cafe (7.30pm, £5 / £3).

Sunday 27 January: From the people who brought you Stations and London Lies comes Lovers’ Lies. Go to the launch party at Keats House for a taster (2.30pm, £5).

Jane Duran and Leah Fritz are reading at Torriano Poets in Kentish Town (7.30pm, £5 / £3).

Monday 28 January: Today is the 200th anniversary of Pride and Prejudice being first published. There are events happening around it, but none today (that we could find. Post a comment if you know different). But there’s nothing stopping you curling up with Lizzy Bennett instead. Or maybe even visiting some of the London locations.

Look forward to spring with Olivia McCannon, Carole Bromley, Norbert Hirschhorn, Cheryl Moskowitz, Caroline Carver, Nancy Mattson, Andrea Porter, Bethany Pope and Henry Fajemirokun at Coffee House Poetry (8pm, £7 / £6).

Tuesday 29 January: Hear tales from Stations, London Lies and Lovers’ Lies at the soon-to-be-evicted Friern Barnet library (7pm, free).

Niall O’Sullivan is the man in charge at the Poetry Cafe‘s open mic night (7.30pm, £5 / £4).

Follow @LondonistLit for our pick of that day’s literary events.

Author appearances, poetry and spoken word events in London this week

Wednesday 30 January: John Burnside and The Wilderness author Samantha Harvey help launch the latest issue of Granta at Foyles (6.30pm, free but email to reserve a seat).

Selma James discusses sex, race and class at Housmans (7pm, £3).

Malu Halasa (Secret Life of Syrian Lingerie), Ghalia Kabbani (Secrets and Lies) and Nihad Sirees debate Syrian writing at Waterstones Piccadilly (7pm, free, book in advance).

Timothy Adès presents Victor Hugo’s How to be a Grandfather at the Poetry Cafe (7.30pm, £5).

Thursday 31 January: Joe Dunthorne, Ross Sutherland, Emma Jane Unsworth and Bin Adewunmi are standing up for books at The George, Strand (8pm, £6 / £5).

Melissa Harrison will read from and talk about her debut novel Clay at the Big Green Bookshop (7pm, free but drop them a line if you’re going).

Get your dose of stand up poetry with Bang Said the Gun and guests Bohdan Piasecki and Shihan (Def Jam) in SE1 (8pm, £5).

Poets RV Bailey, Roz Kaveney and Peter Daniels are reading at Gay’s the Word from 7pm (free).

Alison Moore, Navid Hamzavi and Angela Kirby launch Ambit 211 at the Owl Bookshop in Kentish Town (7pm, free).

Friday 1 February: Kat Francois hosts a night of Slam Poetry at the Poetry Cafe (8pm, £5 / £3).

Catch the Poets of Malika’s Kitchen at the Camden Poetry Series (7pm, £5 / £3).

Saturday 2 February: Mansour Chow and Gary From Leeds launch the second issue of The Alarmist at The Social, with Paul Birtill, Richard Purnell and others (7pm, £3 / £7 with magazine).

Monday 4 February: Canadian SF author Robert J Sawyer pops into Wood Green’s Big Green Bookshop to talk about his work (7pm, free, but let them know if you’re going).

Russian author Boris Akunin gives this year’s Sebald Lecture at Kings Place (7pm, £9.50).

Poets from Australia, Iran and America read for Exiled Writers Ink at the Poetry Cafe (7.30pm, £4 / £2).

Alan Price reads at More Poetry at the Coffee Shop with Ken Champion and Juli Jana (7.45pm, £1).

Michael Clift and Irina Jauhiainen host a new night of poetry and music, Until the Light Goes Out, at the Library Bar (7.30pm, free).

Tuesday 5 February: Andy de la Tour talks to Miles Jupp about his experience on the New York comedy circuit, at the National Theatre (6pm, £4 / £3).

Niall O’Sullivan hosts the Poetry Cafe‘s open mic night, Poetry Unplugged (7.30pm, £5 / £4).

Simon Barraclough and Chrissy Williams are Beyond Words at the Gipsy Hill Tavern (7.15pm, £4 / £3).

Follow @LondonistLit for our pick of that day’s literary events.

Author appearances, poetry and spoken word events in London this week

Wednesday 6 February: Lucy Hughes-Hallett talks about The Pike, the story of poet, seducer and proto-Fascist Gabriele D’Annunzio, at Lutyens & Rubinstein (7pm, £5).

Storytellers from Liars’ League are at Clapham Books for some Lovers’ Lies (7.30pm, free).

Ros Barber, Chris Chalmers, Sheila Hayman, John McCullough and Roma Tearne are reading Tales of the City at Camden Working Men’s College (7pm, free).

Ross Sutherland starts a residency at Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club for his show Comedian Dies in the Middle of a Joke (7pm, £5).

Richard Seymour talks about the work of Christopher Hitchens at Housmans (7pm, £3).

Thursday 7 February: Tom Adams and Tshaka Campbell join Dan Cockrill, Rob Auton and Peter Hayhoe for Bang Said the Gun (8pm, £7 / £5).

Francesca Beard hosts Book Slam at the Clapham Grand, with Tim Key, Dan Rhodes, Katie Bonna, Richard Marsh and Aidan Moffat, all looking at the downsides of love (7.30pm, £6 / £8).

Anya Lipska launches her crime thriller Where the Devil Can’t Go at Daunt Books in Marylebone (6.30pm, free, RSVP thefridayproject@lightbrigade.co.uk).

Salon London looks beyond the book at Foyles, with Stevyn Colgan, Damian Barr and Ella Bertoud (6.30pm, £10).

Adam Daly talks about outsider writers at the European Bookshop (7pm, free).

Writers from the Arachne Press trilogy of Stations, Lovers’ Lies and London Lies read for an LGBT History Month event at Ealing Library (6.15pm, free).

Poet Noel Duffy and novelist Shauna Gilligan are reading from and talking about their work at the London Irish Centre (6.30pm, free).

Friday 8 February: Sam Berkson, Raymond Antrobus and Michelle Madsen make public transport public again, one poem at a time, at the Poetry Cafe (8pm, £5).

Gary Lachman and Antony Clayton talk about Aleister Crowley and Madame Blavatsky, ‘the Mother of Modern Spirituality’, at Westminster Reference Library (6.30pm, free but email to reserve a place).

Clare Summerskill presents 50 years of lesbian and gay oral history at Gay’s the Word (7pm, £2).

Saturday 9 February: Tom Bland, Errol McGlashan and Benedict Newbery perform at the Poetry Cafe for Platform 1; get there around 7pm if you want to be onstage alongside them (7.30pm, £5 / £4).

Jacqueline Saphra, Peter Daniels and Lesley Saunders perform poetry in the crypt at St Mary’s church, Upper Street (7pm, £4).

Pairs of poets team up at Rich Mix to read original work for Camarade IV. Some of the twosomes are Chris McCabe and Tom Jenks, George Szirtes and Carol Watts, Roddy Lumsden and Carrie Etter, and Kirsty Irving and Ryan Van Winkle (7pm, free).

Sunday 10 February: Mr Gee, G.R.E.E.Ds, Amy Acre, Chima Anya and Kristiana Colon are Jumoke Fashola’s guests at Jazz Verse Jukebox (7.30pm, £8).

Monday 11 February: Neil McKenna reads from Fanny and Stella, a story of Victorian cross-dressing, at Waterstones Gower Street (6.30pm, free).

Jude Cook, Gavin Extence, Darren Lee and Rosalind Stopps read stories and novel extracts at The Book Stops Here (8pm, free).

If you missed Arachne Press at Ealing, catch them at the other side of town reading stories at Deptford Lounge (7pm, free).

Liz Lochhead, Julian Stannard, Liz Berry, Stuart Silver and Huw Warren perform poems about what we should have said, at Coffee House Poetry (8pm, £7 / £6).

Members of the Poetry Society’s London South West Stanza perform at Barnestorm V at the Poetry Cafe, with music from LiTTLe MACHiNe (7.30pm, free).

Polarbear presents an interactive storytelling show Mon-Weds for children 9+ at the Southbank Centre (10.30am / 1.30pm, £6).

Tuesday 12 February: Craig Taylor and Amit Chaudhuri discuss writing about place with Alex Clark at Foyles (6.30pm, free but book ahead).

Former Poet Laureate Andrew Motion is at Lauderdale House to raise funds for the Mayor of Camden’s charities (8pm, £12.50).

Actors will perform eight new short and sweet stories at Liars’ League at the Phoenix (7.30pm, £5).

Poejazzi presents Anna Meredith, Harry Baker, The Magic Lantern and Jack Rooke for a night of spoken word at Surya in Islington (7.30pm, £5 / £7).

Niall O’Sullivan hosts the Poetry Cafe‘s regular open mic night (7.30pm, £5 / £4).

Follow @LondonistLit for our pick of that day’s literary events.

Author appearances, poetry and spoken word events in London this week

Wednesday 13 February: There might be a few tickets left for Stephen Grosz and Andrew Solomon talking with Cressida Connolly at Lutyens & Rubinstein (7pm, £8).

Peter Dwyer and Leo Zeilig discuss the democratic transformation of Southern Africa at Housmans (7pm, £3).

Thursday 14 February: AF Harrold and Deanna Rodger are the guests joining the regulars at Bang Said the Gun (8pm, £7 / £5).

Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger and Richard Sennett talk about music at the London Review Bookshop (7pm, £7).

Anwar Hamad launches his novel Jaffa Prepares Morning Coffee at the Mosaic Rooms (7pm, free).

Julia Eccleshare, James Dawson, Gemma Malley, Abigail Gibbs and Maureen Johnson ponder why so much teenage fiction is based in the supernatural at the Southbank Centre (5pm, £3).

Mellow Baku, Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze, John Agard, Jelena Curcic and Mello Baku all perform at a chilled out love special of London Liming at Rich Mix (8pm, £8 / £6).

Friday 15 February: Jonathan Coe, Philip Tew and Julia Jordan celebrate the life of BS Johnson at the British Library (6.30pm, £7.50 / £5).

Jasmine Ann Cooray, Andy V. Frost, Lisa Kelly and Patric Cunnane perform at Dodo Modern Poets at the Poetry Cafe (8pm, £6 / £5).

Jeremy Reed and the Ginger Light perform spoken word with soundscapes at the National Portrait Gallery (6.30pm, free).

Saturday 16 February: Michael Rosen and Laura Dockrill perform fantastic poetry at the Southbank Centre (11am, £8 / £4).

Loads of venues around London are taking part in the Children’s Book Swap. Have a look at the World Book Day website for more information.

Sunday 17 February: Vila’s Mountain, a show of Serbian fairy tales for adults, starts a run at the Playhouse at Cable Street Studios (7.30pm, £5 / £7).

Brilliant children’s writers and illustrators Sarah McIntyre and Philip Reeve run two monster workshops at the Southbank Centre (10.30am / 2.30pm, free).

Judith Kerr talks about her life and stories at the Southbank Centre (1pm, £8 / £4).

John Hegley’s performing his Adventures of Monsieur Robinet show as part of the Southbank Centre‘s Imagine Children’s Festival, but it’s also very suitable for adults (11am, £8 / £4).

Monday 18 February: Take the kids to explore shanties and misheard song lyrics with Holly Pester at the Southbank Centre (10.30am / 1.30pm, free).

Lara Fiegel’s The Love-Charm of Bombs looks at how writers saw the London Blitz. Find out more at Daunt Books Marylebone (7pm, £8).

James Lasdun talks to Susie Orbach about his memoir of being stalked, at the Royal Society of Literature (7pm, £8).

Jonathan Kemp talks about his books London Triptyph and Twentysix at the Islington Museum (1pm, free).

Tuesday 19 February: Jim Crace talks about Harvest, his last novel before he retires, at Foyles (6.30pm, free but book in advance).

Anthony Horowitz chats about his books and inspiration at the Southbank Centre (3pm, £8 / £4).

If you couldn’t get into the James Lasdun event at the RSL, he’s also telling the London Review Bookshop about his true experience of being stalked (7pm, £7).

Niall O’Sullivan hosts the Poetry Cafe‘s weekly open mic night (7.30pm, £5 / £4).

Hear short stories by Jude Cook, Kerry Fowler, James O’Neill, Jonathan Skan, Kim Whatmore and Judith Wilson at Vanguard Readings at The Bear in Camberwell (7.30pm, free).

Live Canon are holding a poetry party for kids aged 5-8 at Greenwich Theatre (10.30am / 12pm, £7.50).

Jeff Hilson and Elizabeth Guthrie are the poets performing at The Blue Bus. Also expect music at The Lamb (7.30pm, £5 / £3).

The Lumen Poetry Series presents Alan Brownjohn and Leah Fritz. Ruth O’Callaghan hosts (6.30pm, £5 / £4).

Book ahead: The Big Green Bookshop is running two events likely to be very popular: a book swap with India Knight (26 February, 7.30pm, £5) and Tracey Thorn talking to Pete Paphides (6 March, 7pm, £20 with book, £10 without).

Follow @LondonistLit for our pick of that day’s literary events.

Author appearances, poetry and spoken word events in London this week

Wednesday 20 February: Jami Attenberg and Melissa Harrison will read from novels The Middlesteins and Clay at Bookseller Crow on the Hill (7.30pm, free).

Moroccan poet, novelist, playwright, translator and political activist Abdellatif Laâbi launches his novel The Bottom of the Jar at the Mosaic Rooms (7pm, free, RSVP).

Thursday 21 February: Paul Watson, Iain Macintosh and Neil White talk about how football stole their lives at the Review Bookshop (7pm, free).

Errol McGlashan and Kristiana Colon are Bang Said the Gun‘s guests at The Roebuck pub (8pm, £7 / £5).

DJ Connell, VG Lee, Alex Hopkins and host Paul Burston bring the extremely popular salon Polari to Waterstones Islington (6.30pm, free).

Michael Hofmann, André Naffis-Sahely and Julian Stannard are at London Review Bookshop to talk about the influence of Michael Hofmann (7pm, £7).

Nicholas Sparks is signing copies of his novel Safe Haven at Foyles Westfield White City, with actors Josh Duhamel and Julianne Hough from the film adaptation (4pm, free).

David Walliams talks about his kids’ book Ratburger at the Southbank Centre (11am, £8 / £4).

Hear stories and comedy inspired by pop songs with Jukebox Story at the Poetry Cafe (8pm, £5 / £4).

Simon Barraclough, Isobel Dixon and Chris McCabe push the boundaries of poetry at Rich Mix, joined by Jack Wake-Walker and Oli Barrett (7.30pm, £8 / £6).

Friday 22 February: Young Adult author Cathy Cassidy is chatting at the Southbank Centre (2.30pm, £8 / £4). Also, Jeremy Strong, Gareth P Jones and Tom Banks present a fantastic afternoon of storytelling (3.30pm, £8 / £4).

Chimene Suleyman, Anthony Anaxagorou and Dan Cockrill, off Bang Said duties for a night, join Deanna Rodger and Dean Atta for Come Rhyme With Me (7pm, £7.50 / £6).

John Godfrey and Eve Pearce join Hylda Sims for Fourth Friday at the Poetry Cafe (8pm, £6 / £5).

Saturday 23 February: Cressida Cowell reveals how to train your dragon at the Southbank Centre (3.45pm, £8 / £4).

John Hegley and guests pause for a spot of Elevenses at the Poetry Cafe (11am, £6 / £5).

The Crick Crack Club presents The King and the Corpse storytelling for adults at Rich Mix (7.30pm, £9 / £7).

Sunday 24 February: Jewish Book Week is under way at Kings Place, with speakers including John McCarthy, Naomi Alderman, Howard Jacobson, Laurent Binet, Matti Friedman, Jake Simons and Francesca Segal. Lots of events for this week have already sold out so we advise you to have a browse of the website and snap up anything that looks interesting.

Also at Kings Place for Jewish Book Week, drop into the Live Literary Lounge (12pm-5.30pm, free) to get a one-on-one encounter with writers including Jonathan Kemp, Lisa Gornick and Sophie Robinson; Gemma Seltzer will be writing short stories based on the festival crowd; or help Chris Meade create a collection of ‘Nearly’ stories.

Daunt Books‘s walking book club roams Hampstead Heath discussing Penelope Fitzgerald’s The Blue Flower. Meet at the South End Road shop for 11.30am (free).

Monday 25 February: Jane Ridley discusses writing about royalty at the Royal Society of Literature (7pm, £8 / £5).

David Harsent performs poems about darkness, at the Southbank Centre (7.45pm, £8).

Clare Pollard and Penelope Shuttle help launch Magma 55 at Coffee House Poetry (8pm, £7 / £6).

Neil McKenna talks about Victorian cross-dressing at Islington Central Library (6pm, free).

Tuesday 26 February: India Knight is Big Green Bookshop‘s special guest at their book swap (7.30pm, £5).

James Smythe talks to Nikesh Shukla about science fiction and computer games at Review Bookshop in Peckham (7pm, free).

Richard Davenport-Hines talks about the Profumo Affair at Daunt Books Marylebone (7pm, £8).

Victoria Brittain and Louise Christian discuss the lives of the wives of terror suspects, at the London Review Bookshop (7pm, £7).

Literary agent David Haviland is speaking at London Writers’ Club live (7pm, £15 / £20).

After an excursion to Islington earlier in the week, Polari is back at the Southbank Centre with Clare Summerskill (7.45pm, £5).

Events at Kings Place for Jewish Book Week include Anne Sebba and Ellen Cassidy talking about Lithuania, Shani Boianjiu on her debut novel The People of Forever are Not Afraid, a discussion about the Holocaust in Italian culture and a writing workshop with Shaun Levin.

The LSE’s Space for Thought Literary Festival starts today, with events featuring PD James, Helena Kennedy, Sarah Harper and Hans Rosling debating big issues of our age and David Edmonds and Nigel Warburton wondering if technology can rejuvenate philosophy. All events are free but should be pre-booked.

Niall O’Sullivan hosts an open mic night at the Poetry Cafe (7.30pm, £5 / £4).

Random: Protagonists – 100 books from London is a project asking people to submit the title of the book of their life. The results will be made into a short film.

Follow @LondonistLit for our pick of that day’s literary events.

Author appearances, poetry and spoken word events in London this week

Wednesday 27 February: English PEN launches its Prison Writing pamphlet at the Free Word Centre, with Mark Haddon (7pm, £6).

Jewish Book Week continues at King’s Place: if you’re lucky you might be able to grab tickets to a repeat of Simon Schama‘s talk on the history of the Jews (7pm, £6.50). Today’s other highlights include Jeffrey Lewis and David Aukin on the Inquisition and the Wingate Prize for Jewish Literature.

At the LSE Space for Thought Festival, Professor Christopher Andrew, Professor Lord Hennessy and Alan Judd talk about writers and having a ‘real job’; Lisa Appignanesi, Professor Anne Applebaum and Dr Charles Fernyhough discuss narrative and memory; and Greg Artus, Professor Tim Besley, Aifric Campbell and Professor Roger Kneebone ask questions about science and fiction (free, but pre-book).

Jawdance has spoken word from Mama Tokus, Claire Morgan, Chris Stewart and Vaughn Noir at Rich Mix, all free (7.30pm).

Spare Tyre present stories with spoken word, song, dance and film at the Albany (7.30pm, £6).

Poets Luke Roberts and Rhys Trimble are Xing the Line at The Apple Tree (7.30pm).

Thursday 28 February: Book Slam is at the Flyover in Ladbroke Grove, with Niall Griffiths, Niall O’Sullivan, Mae Martin and Olivia Chaney (7.30pm, £6 / £8).

John Hegley will be excellent, as always, at the Canal Cafe Theatre with support from Robert Garnham (7.30pm, £5 / £4).

Join David Harsent and Poet in the City at Waterstones Gower Street to launch a new translation of Yannis Ritsos (6.30pm, £9.50 / £7.50).

Enjoy an evening of short stories with Edith Pearlman at Keats House, with Daunt Books (7pm, £5).

There’s a lot already sold out at Jewish Book Week, but you can still see Rachel Lichtenstein talking about Hatton Garden and Yudit Kiss and George Szirtes discussing Jewish Hungarians.

David J, Ross Sutherland and Kristiana Rae Colon are at Chill Pill in Deptford (7.30pm, £7).

The Guardian’s film critic Peter Bradshaw has written a comic thriller set on VE night, and he’s talking about at Foyles (6.30pm, free but reserve in advance).

Lou Hart talks about the life of Mary Butts, student of Aleister Crowley, at Treadwell’s (7.15pm, £7, book in advance).

At the LSE, you can catch Ken Livingstone at lunchtime, then John Coates, Dylan Evans and Paul Ormerod talk about errors, emotions, biology and finance; Professor Jerry Brotton and Mike Parker discuss maps; Dr Alex Gillespie, Professor Philip Horne and Professor Sandra Jovchelovitch look at the works of Henry and William James; and John Gray lectures on existence (free, but pre-book).

Neil McKenna talks about a trial that shook Victorian England at Kensington Central Library (6pm, £5 / £3).

Cherry Potts, Katy Darby, Nathan Good and Michelle Shine read stories from Lovers’ Lies at Wood Green Central Library (7pm, free).

Mike Garry and Lydia Beardmore join the usual Bang Said the Gun crew (8pm, £7 / £5).

Friday 1 March: At the LSE, Jenny Uglow talks about pioneering woman architect Sarah Losh; Professor Russell Goulbourne, Dr Tim Hochstrasser and Dr Paul Keenan discuss the work of Denis Diderot; and Ewan Morrison, Martin Rowson and DJ Taylor debate the art of parody (free, but pre-book).

Adam Watt and Jamie McKendrick make the case for neglected classics by Proust and Bassani at Jewish Book Week (1pm, £6.50).

Stinky Bear Press brings many poets, including Chris McCabe, Amy Key and Pascal O’Loughlin, to the Mascara Bar for a night honouring Mark E Smith (8pm, free).

Miriam Halahmy, Anna Meryt and Jonathan Portman are the guests at Camden Poetry Series (6.30pm, £5 / £4).

Saturday 2 March: It’s the final day of LSE’s Space for Thought Festival. Highlights include Michael Wood and Dr Vayu Naidu on oral narratives and storytelling; Pat Barker talking about her novels and art in conflict; Gareth Edwards, John Finnemore, John Morton and Joanna Scanlan discussing comedy and social commentary; Carola Luther, Michael McGregor and Dr Llewelyn Morgan reading poetry to illuminate a discussion about politics; and Paul Farley, Tristan Gooley and Sara Maitland exploring writing about place. Tickets are free but pre-book.

Evening events at Jewish Book Week include a talk about Israeli TV drama; Ruth Fainlight, Aoife Mannix and Lynne Segal remembering the poetry of Adrienne Rich (with live subtitling) and six word memoirs from Brian Lobel, Daphna Baram, Craig Taylor, Debra Tammer, Julie Kertesz and Polly Paulusma.

Sunday 3 March: Take a book for swapping to Feed and Read at the Bearspace Gallery (12pm-4pm). There will be lots of cake.

Jewish Book Week ends: events include Orlando Figes and Nancy K Miller talking about history, Deborah Levy on her novel Swimming Home, Rachel Johnson on her novel Winter Games, Sayed Kashua talking about his portrayal of Palestinian Israelis and Stephan Mendel-Enk discussing his novel Oh Sweden! Oh Israel!

Monday 4 March: Paul Kildea talks about his biography of Benjamin Britten at Daunt Books Marylebone (7pm, £8).

Jo Shapcott, Jane Draycott and John Burnside explore the connections between poetry and medicine at King’s Place (7pm, £9.50).

Hear stories told by Spark London at the Canal Cafe Theatre (7.30pm, £8).

Dervla Murphy and Sara Wheeler talk about women and travel writing at the Royal Society of Literature (7pm, £8 / £5).

Tuesday 5 March: Huw Edwards and Andrew Simms talk about the economy and whether everything’s falling apart, as part of Dulwich Books‘s Spring Voices Festival (7.30pm, £5).

Peruvian writer Gunter Silva reads from his new book of short stories at the European Bookshop (7pm, free but book ahead).

Niall O’Sullivan hosts the Poetry Cafe‘s open mic night from (7.30pm, £5 / £4).

The fifth edition of Ariadne’s Thread focuses on war. Celebrate the launch at The Old Ship in Richmond (7.30pm, free).

John Wheeler and poets from Malika’s Kitchen are at the Gipsy Hill Tavern for Beyond Words (7.30pm, £4 / £3).

Travis Elborough is talking about his new book, London Bridge in America, at Review in Peckham (7pm).

Wednesday 6 March: Tracey Thorn is talking to Pete Paphides at the Big Green Bookshop – book quickly, this one will probably sell out (7pm, £20 including book or £10).

Tom Watson and Martin Hickman discuss Rupert Murdoch’s media empire at Waterstones King’s Road (7pm, £5).

Three of Carcanet’s most exciting young poets, Oli Hazzard, Caroline Bird and Jane Yeh, read from their work at Dulwich Books (7.30pm).

Cathy Kelly, Rosie Goodwin,Wendy Jones and Lucy Caldwell are talking about their books and lives at Brixton Library (7pm, free but reserve in advance).

Shahab Ahmed, Jennie Christian, Brian Docherty, Lisa Galdal, Jack Wilkes and Helena Boland read at a Word for Word event at the Poetry Library (8pm, free).

Follow @LondonistLit for our pick of that day’s literary events.

Author appearances, poetry and spoken word events in London this week

Thursday 7 March: It’s World Book Day! Find out what’s happening near you with the World Book Day website.

Courttia Newland reads from his new novel The Gospel According to Cane at Clapham Books (7pm, free).

Former NME and Time Out music journalist Nick Coleman talks about his memoirs at Dulwich Books (7pm, £10, includes book and wine).

Amity Gaige, Emily Berry and Susie Steiner are chatting at Foyles (6.30pm, free but reserve a place in advance).

Political philosopher John Gray talks to Pankaj Mishra about his work and new book at the London Review Bookshop (7pm, £7).

Dean Atta and Aja Monet join the regulars for stand up poetry at Bang Said the Gun (8pm, £7 / £5).

Janett Plummer and Agnes Meadows perform poetry at Lewisham Library for International Women’s Week (8pm, free).

Swap a book at New Cross Learning and enjoy an exhibition of extreme reading (6.30pm, free).

SLAMbassadors run a spoken word masterclass (5pm) and gig (7.30pm) at the Poetry Cafe (£3).

Friday 8 March: Mel Jones is the guest poet for Poetry Jam at The Tea Box in Richmond (8pm, free).

Adriana Hunter and Polly McLean discuss translating sex at the London Review Bookshop (7pm, £10).

Renowned historical novelist Vladimir Sharov is at Waterstones Piccadilly (6.30pm, £5).

Sally Blackmore launches a new poetry anthology at the Poetry Cafe (7.30pm).

Saturday 9 March: Catch Salena Godden, Simon Mole and Byron Vincent at The Word House hosted by Dan Simpson (7.30pm, £4).

Naomi Wolf is talking about her work at the Southbank Centre (7.30pm, £10-£20).

Wendy Moore recounts the extraordinary decision of Thomas Day to raise a foundling into the perfect wife, at the Foundling Museum (2pm, free with entry to museum £7.50 / £5).

Catch Tom Bland, Errol McGlashan and Benedict Newbery plus up and coming poets at the Poetry Cafe (8pm, £5 / £4).

Sunday 10 March: See Alice Walker and a documentary about her life and work at the Southbank Centre (6.30pm / 9.30pm, £10-£20).

Take the kids to meet authors Marianne Levy and Joe Craig, among other events, at Little Bookniks (various times, £5 per event).

Pick up cheap books at New Cross Learning (hardbacks £1, paperbacks five for £1) from 2pm.

Dean Atta, Aja Monet, Anthony Anaxagorou and Mark Gwynne Jones join Jumoke Fashola for Jazz Verse Jukebox (7.30pm, £8).

Monday 11 March: Lara Feigel talks to Juliet Gardiner at the Royal Society of Literature about writing the Blitz (7pm, £8 / £5).

If you missed him at the London Review Bookshop, John Gray discusses his new book The Silence of Animals with Adam Phillips at Daunt Books in Marylebone (7pm, £8).

Lucy Caldwell, Kit Caless, Will Storr and Beatrice Hitchman read from their work at literary party night The Book Stops Here (8pm, free).

Enjoy poetry from Hollie McNish, Zena Edwards and Apples and Snakes with your lunch, at St Thomas’ Hospital (1pm, free).

Coffee House Poetry takes Manhattan and other cities, at The Troubadour (8pm, £7 / £6).

Poet and media guru Demyan Kudryavtsev talks about the relationship between literature and the media at Waterstones Piccadilly (6.30pm, £5).

Tall Lighthouse press hosts a free night at the Poetry Cafe for poetry and storytelling (7.30pm).

Tuesday 12 March: Rob Auton, Tshaka Campbell, Sarah Williams White and The Insomniax join Poejazzi at Surya on Pentonville Road (7.30pm, £5).

Liars’ League is song and dance themed; head to the Phoenix for new stories read by actors (7.30pm, £5).

Tom Basden presents novelists Sarah Hall and Peter Hobbs for The Special Relationship at The Book Club (7.30pm, £5).

Russian writer Dmitry Bykov is talking (in Russian, mind) at Waterstones Piccadilly (6.30pm, £5).

Niall O’Sullivan hosts the Poetry Cafe‘s weekly open mic night (7.30pm, £5 / £4).

Wednesday 13 March: Will Storr, Rebecca Wait, Melissa Harrison and Ian Kelly do battle at Literary Death Match (8.15pm, £6.50 / £9). Anna Raverat, Eos Chater and John Niven judge.

Andrew Wilson discusses his biography of Sylvia Plath at Waterstones Covent Garden (6pm, £4 / £3).

Alex Niven, Mark Fisher and Peter Fleming debate capitalism at Waterstones Trafalgar Square (7pm, £5).

Agnes Meadows hosts Loose Muse, a night for women writers, at the Poetry Cafe (8pm, £5 / £3).

Follow @LondonistLit for our pick of that day’s literary events.

Author appearances, poetry and spoken word events in London this week

Thursday 14 March: It’s actually a bit embarrassing how much Londonist’s Books ed loves A.L. Kennedy. Find out why at the London Review Bookshop as she talks about her latest collection, On Writing (7pm, £7).

Nathan Filer and Rosie Garland join the regular Bang Said the Gun crew at the Roebuck (8pm, £7 / £5).

Discover Shakespeare’s links with the Clerkenwell underworld with Dr Duncan Salkeld at Islington Museum (6.30pm, free).

Moniza Alvi, Vahni Capildeo, Leah Fritz, Myra Schneider and Seni Seneviratne perform poetry at Lauderdale House (8pm, £5 / £3).

Stephen Grosz talks about his new book The Examined Life with Wendy Cope at Waterstones Hampstead (7pm, £5).

Friday 15 March: Actors Rebecca Steele and Daniel Dresner perform works about Soho, including from Virginia Woolf, Samuel Johnson, William Burroughs, Casanova and Lenny Bruce (8pm, £10).

Stephen Appleby, Karen McLeod, Will David and Lucy Danser are the guests for Polari’s literary salon at the Southbank Centre (7.45pm, £5).

Chrys Salt and Alan Franks present an evening of poetry, music and humour at Keats House (7.30pm, free but book in advance).

There’s poetry in Spanish and English with Lindsey Ford, Angel-Luis Hernandes-Frances, Keith Jarrett, Maria Teresa Lander, Susana Medina, Katrina Quinn and Isabel del Rio at Farrago’s SLAM at the Poetry Cafe (8pm, £6 / £5).

Simon Mole and John Berkavitch are working up new spoken word shows at Canada Water Culture Space (7.15pm, free).

Saturday 16 March: Genuinely can’t find anything happening today. There must be; let us know what we’ve missed in the comments.

Sunday 17 March: Jo Shapcott, Lorna Goodson and Nii Ayikwei Parkes celebrate Poems on the Underground at Keats House (7pm, £6).

There’s a literary St Patrick’s Day bash at the Southbank Centre with new novelists Peter Murphy, Lucy Caldwell and Claire Kilroy (7.45pm, £8).

Anne Stewart and Jo Peters Read are the guests at Torriano Poets (7.30pm, £5 / £3).

Eliza Shaddad, Charlie Dupree, Torben Tietz, Julie Mayhew, Bobbie Darbyshire, Megan Beech and Dan Simpson explore History and Herstory through music and words at The Book Club (6.30pm, £5).

Monday 18 March: Hear poets Alice Oswald and Robin Robertson at Somerset House with the Royal Society of Literature (7pm, £8 / £5).

Laydeez Do Comics bring artists Elliot Baggott, Nina Burrowes and Annie Lawson to Foyles (6pm, free).

Claire Armitstead talks to novelist Louisa Young and surgeon Iain Hutchison about the role of art in war at Kings Place (7pm, £9.50).

Paddy Ashdown discusses the wartime exploits of the Cockleshell Heroes, at Durning Library (6.45pm, £2).

Niall O’Sullivan and Dan Simpson are working out new material at the Poetry Society Studio (7.30pm, free but donation optional).

Javier Marias talks about his newest book The Infatuations at Waterstones Piccadilly (6.30pm, £5 / £3).

Tuesday 19 March: Oliver James reveals how to survive office politics, at Daunt Books Cheapside (6.30pm, £5).

Over at Daunt Books Marylebone, Sara Wheeler talks about 19th century women travelling America (7pm, £8).

Crime/SF/thriller authors Peter James and Michael Marshall talk about their latest novels at Foyles (6.30pm, £3).

Niall O’Sullivan hosts the Poetry Cafe‘s weekly open mic night (7.30pm, £5 / £4).

Gillian Allnut, Elaine Feinstein and Fiona Sampson are the performers at Lumen Poetry Series (6.30pm, £5 / £4).

Carol Watts, Nat Raha and Gareth Farmer read at The Blue Bus poetry night at The Lamb (7.30pm, £5 / £3).

Wednesday 20 March: It’s your chance to find out everything you ever wanted to know about anarchism but were afraid to ask, with Iain McKay at Housmans (7pm, £3).

Daunt Books Chelsea hosts a crime evening with Teresa Solana and Anne Cleeves (7pm, free but book ahead).

Can’t make it to the London Review Bookshop on Thursday? Never fear, A.L. Kennedy is at Waterstones Piccadilly talking about On Writing (6.30pm, £5 / £3).

Javier Marias is also on his second event of the week, this time at the Southbank Centre (7.45pm, £10).

Hear East London Line stories from Stations at Greenwich’s MVMNT cafe (7pm, free).

Linda Black launches Son of a Shoemaker, poems based on the early life of Hans Christian Andersen, at the Poetry Cafe (6.30pm, free).

Malika Booker presents new work from Laurie Bolger, Mark ‘Mr T’ Thompson, Tolu Agbelusi and Kyrill Potapov at the Gallery Cafe (7.30pm, £5 . £4),

Follow @LondonistLit for our pick of that day’s literary events.

Author appearances, poetry and spoken word events in London this week

Thursday 21 March: Three of Russia’s best contemporary writers – Andrei Makine, Mikhail Shishkin and Irina Prokhorova – talk about their work at the Southbank Centre (7.45pm, £10).

Tolu Agbelusi and Cezanne Poetess combine poetry and art at the CRE8 Gallery (7.30pm, £7 / £5).

Get a taste of romantic fiction with Choc-Lit authors Henriette Gyland and Christina Courtenay at the Big Green Bookshop (7pm, £3).

Celebrate International Poetry Day with readings at Keats House (3pm, £5 / £3).

Comedian Simon Munnery and James Bunting are the stand up poetry guests at Bang Said the Gun (8pm, £7 / £5).

Siobhan Curham, Aaron Daniel, Johnny Meme and Dzifa Benson are guests of Anjan Saha at London Literature Lounge at the Poetry Cafe (7pm, £5).

Friday 22 March: Gillian Slovo (pictured) talks about her latest novel, An Honourable Man, at Clapham Library (7pm, free).

There are poems from and for Iraq at Rich Mix, featuring Joe Dunthorne, Kirsty Irving, George Szirtes, Ghareeb Iskander, Sabreen Kadhim, Zahir Mousa and others (7.30pm, free).

Anjan Saha presents another Literature Lounge at Keats House, with spoken word and music (6pm, free).

Elbow Room magazine is putting on a night of art, poetry, music and cocktails at inSpiral in Camden (9pm, free).

Mimi Khalvati and Hylda Sims do the monthly Fourth Friday night at the Poetry Cafe (8pm, £6 / £5).

Saturday 23 March: See Joe Dunthorne, Stuart Evers, Lane Ashfeldt and Hassan Blasim at Word Factory #8, The Society Club, Soho (6pm, £10).

Did you see poetry’s obituary in the Independent the other month? Come give it a decent burial at the Poetry Cafe with Lucy Gellman, Michael Clift, Roy Canty, Irina Jauhiainen and Tom Bland (7.30pm, £5 / £4).

Ian Parks and Robert Stein perform poetry in the crypt of St Mary’s church on Upper Street (8pm, £4).

David Miller, Frances Presley and David Herd read at the the Centre for Creative Collaboration in King Cross (6.15pm).

Monday 25 March: Poet in the City has put together an evening of Coleridge, at Kings Place, with Dr. Shahidha Bari, Louise Foxcroft, Fabian Peake and James Vigus (7pm, £9.50).

Hear poems in Galician / Portuguese and English translation at the Poetry Cafe (7.30pm, £5 / £4).

Tuesday 26 March: Liars’ League bring to life winners of the annual Writers & Artists Short Story Competition at the Bloomsbury Institute (6.30pm, £10 / £6).

Molly Naylor presents a show of spoken word and music, featuring love and robots, at Battersea Arts Centre until Thursday (8.30pm, £10 / £8).

Meet Diana Beaumont of Rupert Heath Literary Agency at London Writers’ Club Live (7pm, £15 / £20).

The North London Lit Fest is a free two day extravaganza at Middlesex University’s Hendon campus. Guests include Chibundu Onuzo, Rowan Coleman, Andrew Simms, Michele Roberts, Feona Attwood and David Rain.

Sign up early for Niall O’Sullivan’s open mic night at the Poetry Cafe (7.30pm, £5 / £4).

Wednesday 27 March: Jodi Picoult discusses her new novel The Storyteller at Kings Place (7pm, £9.50).

James Herbert is the big draw at the free North London Lit Fest. Also catch Laura Hird, Lucy Caldwell, Elizabeth Buchan, Matt Haig, John Lucas and a poetry slam. Edit: we’ve just heard that James Herbert has passed away.

Apples and Snakes offer up some free spoken word with Jawdance at Rich Mix (7.30pm).

Join Tom Chivers and Rachel Lichtenstein as they delve below London’s streets at the Bishopsgate Institute (7.30pm, £8 / £6).

Poet Oli Hazzard talks to psychoanalyst and critic Adam Phillips at Lutyens & Rubinstein (7pm, £5).

Follow @LondonistLit for our pick of that day’s literary events.

Author appearances, poetry and spoken word events in London this Easter week

Thursday 28 March: Joe Dunthorne, Luke Wright and Josie Long are at excellent comedy purveyors Invisible Dot for a crossover night of stories and comedy. Liam Williams hosts (7.45pm, £8).

There’s more comedy/stories crossover at the Good Ship in Kilburn for Tall Tales, with Robert Hudson, Marie Phillips, Ian Leslie, John Finnemore, Gareth Edwards, Toby Davies, Benet Brandreth and Helen Arney (8pm, £5).

Bang Said the Gun have been doing poetry-as-comedy for ages. Check out the regulars plus guests Harry Baker and Monkey Poet at the Roebuck (8pm, £7 / £5).

Craig Taylor chats about his fantastic book Londoners at the Guildhall Library (6pm, £5, book in advance).

Al Alvarez discusses his new book, Pondlife, at the Bloomsbury Institute (6pm, £30 including book).

Molly Naylor finishes her run of My Robot Heart at the Battersea Arts Centre (8.30pm, £10 / £8).

Waterstones Covent Garden has Kevin Maher chatting about his novel The Fields (6pm, £4 / £3).

Friday 29 March: Dean Atta and Deanna Rodger present spoken word and food at Come Rhyme with Me, Cotton’s Restaurant (7pm, £12.50 / £7.50).

Saturday 30 March: Amy Key, Jacqui Saphra and Gale Burns host The Shuffle at the Poetry Cafe (7.30pm, £5 / £3).

See what happens when words are mixed with visual art, at Craft Central, with Selina Nwulu, Daniel Lehan, Greta Healy, Robyn Comfort and Bill Vine (7pm, £5 / £3).

Monday 1 April: Mohsin Hamid launches his new novel How To Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia at the Southbank Centre (7.45pm, £8).

Foyles booksellers at Westfield White City are doing storytelling sessions for ages 5+ from 3pm.

Tuesday 2 April: Cityread London kicks off with a party and librarian DJ slamdown at the Free Word Centre (5.30pm, free).

Matt Baylis reads from and talks about his Wood Green-based crime novel A Death at the Palace at the Wood Green-based Big Green Bookshop (7pm, free but RSVP).

Ten poets – including Kate Tempest, Sabrina Mahfouz, Chris McCabe and Sam Riviere – present specially commissioned works around the Hayward Gallery’s blockbuster (for good reason) Light Show exhibition (7.30pm and 8pm, £15, ticket includes entrance to exhibition).

Niall O’Sullivan hosts open mic night Poetry Unplugged at the Poetry Cafe (7.30pm, £5 / £4).

Wednesday 3 April: SF authors Mercurio D Rivera, Ian Whates, Paul Cornell, James Lovegrove and Martin Sketchley celebrate the launch of Solaris 2 at Waterstones Gower Street (6.30pm, free, email to reserve a place).

Over at Waterstones Piccadilly, Rachel Cusk discusses teaching creative writing with poet Jane Yeh, who will also read from her latest collection (7pm, free but email to reserve a place).

The poets are back for two more performances at Light Show (7.30pm and 8pm, £15).

Poets from Southwark and Palmers Green go head to head at the Poetry Cafe‘s Stanza Bonanza (7.30pm, free).

Italian filmmakers Tonino Guerra and Pier Paolo Pasolini were also poets. Gareth Evans, Cristina Viti and Stephen Watts host an evening focusing on their written works at the Poetry Library (8pm, free, email to reserve a place).

Book ahead: Well, this will be busy: Neil Gaiman is at the Royal Society of Literature on 17 June. Book fast, book now (£8 / £5).

Follow @LondonistLit for our pick of that day’s literary events.

Author appearances, poetry and spoken word events in London this Easter week

Thursday 4 April: Mohsin Hamid, Ross Sutherland, Charlie Dark, Riz MC and Nadine Shah are at Book Slam (7.30pm, £6 / £8).

Rohan Kriwaczek is at Waterstones Hampstead to talk about his short stories set in Golders Green (7pm, £6 / £4).

Antony Clayton talks about the world beneath London’s streets, at Paddington Library, for Cityread London (7.30pm, free, email to book a place).

Adam Kammlering and the Roundhouse Collective join the regulars at Bang Said the Gun (8pm, £7 / £5).

Alys Torrance hosts Story Jam at Canvas and Cream in Forest Hill, with Andrew Barnett Jones, Stephe Harrop, Cat Gerrard and Emily Parrish (7pm, £5).

Performance storytellers Tim Ralphs, Xanthe Gresham, Ben Haggarty and Nell Phoenix are with The Crick Crack Club at Rich Mix (7.30pm, £6 / £8).

Martin Gurdon comes to Clapham Books to talk about his latest chickens book Doing Bird (7pm, free).

Poets Jaap Blonk, Holly Pester and Ollie Evans are Xing the Line at The Apple Tree (7.30pm).

Friday 5 April: Join the launch party for Joseph D’Lacey’s Black Feathers at the Big Green Bookshop (6.30pm, free).

Paul Eccentric and his team are telling stories at the Tea Box in Richmond (8pm, £6).

Deanna Rodger is the guest at new night Lipped Ink at the Poetry Cafe, run by Cultural Chameleon Press’s Mark ‘Mr T’ Thompson (7.30pm, £5).

Ruth O’Callaghan presents Sue Guirney and Peter Phillips at the Camden Poetry Series (7pm, £5 / £4).

Saturday 6 April: Steve Cole, Terrance Dicks, Ben Aaronovitch, Justin Richards, Jonathan Morris and Gary Russell celebrate Doctor Who’s 50th anniversary at Waterstones Piccadilly (3pm, £5 / £3).

There’s a Dada poetry open mic at the Poetry Cafe (7.30pm, £5).

Sunday 7 April: Taiye Selasi talks to Hannah Pool about her debut novel Ghana Must Go, at the Southbank Centre (7pm, £8).

Emily Hinshelwood reads at Torriano Poets (7.30pm, £5 / £3).

Monday 8 April: Sebastian Faulks is at the British Library to talk about A Week in December, this year’s Cityread London novel (6.30pm, £7.50 / £5).

David Parry has turned the Gruntlers into Allthing, and is curating an all-afternoon poetry moot at the Poetry Cafe (2.30pm, £5 / £3).

Exiled Writers Ink guests at the Poetry Cafe are Yasin Aziz, Maria Eugenia Bravo Calderara, Victor Schonfeld and Bashir Sakhawarz (7.30pm, £4 / £2).

Tuesday 9 April: Liars’ League heads back to the Phoenix with tales of Twist and Turn (7.30pm, £5).

Poejazzi brings Cecilia Ann Knapp, Kareem Parkins Brown, Alex Mills, Bagel Project and Jono McCleery to Surya (7.30pm, £5).

Commissario Guido Brunetti creator Donna Leon talks to Judith Flanders at Daunt Books in Marylebone (7pm, £8).

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is at the Southbank Centre to chat about her novel Americanah (7.45pm, £10).

Niall O’Sullivan hosts open mic night Poetry Unplugged at the Poetry Cafe (7.30pm, £5 / £4).

Catch Taiye Selasi again at Waterstones London Wall (5.30pm).

Wednesday 10 April: Women writers of all genres appear at Loose Muse at the Poetry Cafe, hosted by Agnes Meadow (8pm, £5 / £3).

Fiona Sampson and James Miller read from their new books at Waterstones Piccadilly (7pm, free but email to reserve  a place).

Book ahead: Sheila Heti’s appearance at the London Review Bookshop has already sold out, but you can join her for a Literary Dinner instead on 2 May (£30).

Author appearances, poetry and spoken word events in London this week

Thursday 11 April: Comedian Robert Newman is at Waterstones Islington for the launch of his new novel The Trade Secret (8pm).

Booker shortlisted Deborah Levy, Patrick Ness and Rebecca Wait read and party at The Book Stops Here (7.30pm, free).

Caroline Smailes launches her novel The Drowning of Arthur Braxton at Belgravia Books from 7pm (free).

AC Grayling is talking about Humanism at Waterstones Hampstead (7pm, £6 / £4).

Antony Clayton uncovers the secrets below London’s streets for CityRead, at Kensington Central Library (6.30pm, free). Also for CityRead, this time at Marylebone Library, Karen Rubins runs a comics workshop for ages 8-12 (2.30pm, free).

Get chilled out spoken word from London Liming at Rich Mix, with Alexander D Great, Prince Abdi, Tim Clare, Femi Martin, Tim Bombdog, James Ingham and Melanie Abrahams (8pm, £8 / £6).

SJ Bolton marks the publication of Like This For Ever at Waterstones Piccadilly (6.30pm, £5 / £3).

Helen East shares London folk tales with SELFS at the Old King’s Head (8pm, £2.50 / £1.50).

Salena Godden and Ian Keteku join the regulars for Bang Said the Gun (8pm, £7 / £5).

Friday 12 April: A new literary festival hits Notting Hill: Nibfest. Sasha Wilkins, Sam Baker and Tim Hayward discuss writers in the digital age at 6.30pm followed by a fabulous line-up of Evie Wyld, Alex Marwood, Sabrina Mahfouz, Will Storr, Katy Regan and Abigail Tartellin settling in for a write-a-thon at 7.30pm (various pricing).

Talia Randall and Amy Lord present a double bill of stories exploring London at Rich Mix (7.30pm, £10).

Project Adorno, Pauline Sewards, Richard Scott and Patric Cunnane are the Dodo Modern Poets at the Poetry Cafe (8pm, £6 / £5).

Anvil Press presents Dutch poet Nachoem Wijnberg and translator David Colmer, and Martina Evans, at the Duke of Wellington (6.30pm, free).

Saturday 13 April: At Nibfest, catch Rastamouse (10am), chefs Thomasina Miers and Simon Wroe (11.15am) and Dr Jonty Heaversedge with Clover Stroud (12.30pm; various pricing).

Tom Bland, Errol McGlashan and Benedict Newbery invite up and coming poets to perform alongside established ones, at Platform 1 at the Poetry Cafe (8pm, £5 / £4).

Sunday 14 April: Nibfest concludes with Anthony Clavane and Richard Moore (2.30pm), Sabine Durrant talking about her debut thriller with Henry Sutton (4pm), Shane Spall, Timothy Spall and Frances Barber (6pm) and Evie Wyld, Alex Marwood, Sabrina Mahfouz, Will Storr, Katy Regan and Abigail Tartellin return with the results of the write-a-thon (7.30pm; various pricing).

Siddhartha Bose, FLOetic Lara, John Berkavitch, HKB Finn and E. Amato join Jumoke Fashola for Jazz Verse Jukebox at Ronnie Scott’s (7.30pm, £8).

Jo Roach, Lynn Foote and Sue McIntyre read at Torriano Poets (7.30pm, £5 / £3).

Monday 15 April: Simon Armitage, Simon Mundy and Bettany Hughes are looking at characters from Greek mythology, at Kings Place (7pm, £9.50).

Jasper Fforde is at Foyles talking with bestselling novelists from Turkey, Bariş Müstecaplıoğlu and İnci Aral (6.30pm, free but reserve in advance).

Perihan Magden and Neel Mukherjee discuss voices of the unheard at the Free Word Centre (6.30pm, £5 / £3).

Richard Mabey talks about nightingales in literature, at the Royal Society of Literature (7pm, £8 / £5).

Tall Lighthouse are running an open mic night at the Poetry Cafe (7.30pm, free).

Justin Cronin discusses The Twelve, sequel to The Passage, at Waterstones Piccadilly (7pm, £5 / £3).

Tuesday 16 April: Granta celebrates the new list of Best of Young British Novelists at Waterstones Piccadilly (7pm, £8 / £5).

Charles Glass tells the story of WW2 deserters, at Daunt Books Marylebone (7pm, £8).

There’s an evening of Singaporean literature at Daunt Books Chelsea, with Alvin Pang, David Seow and Colin Cheong (7pm, free, call to reserve a place).

Head to Mayfair Library to discuss London in poems (6pm, free).

David Berguer gives a talk at North Finchley library on the history of Colney Hatch asylum, part of CityRead (6.30pm, free).

Abbi Glines signs copies of the latest in the SeaBreeze series at West End Lane Books (7pm, £5).

Bidisha, Isabel Hilton, Tom Chatfield and Marina Benjamin help launch the Spread the Word Writing Prize at the Free Word Centre (7pm, £10 / £8).

Simon Mole Porter, AF Harrold, Tolu Agbelusi, Harry Baker, Stephanie Dogfoot and Kass Man are the performers at Poetry Served at the Mau Mau Bar on Portobello Road (7pm, £5 / £4).

Fiona Moore and Chrissy Williams launch two new poetry pamphlets from HappenStance Press at the Crown Tavern (6.30pm, free).

Niall O’Sullivan hosts the Poetry Cafe‘s weekly open mic night (7.30pm, £5 / £4).

Poets Lucy Hamilton, Paul A Green and Nicholas Johnson read at the Blue Bus at the The Lamb (7.30pm, £5 / £3).

Ruth O’Callaghan presents the Lumen Poetry Series with Mimi Khalvati and Seni Seneviratne (7pm, £5 / £4).

Wednesday 17 April: Join Foyles and Granta for a pub crawl round Soho, listening to some of the new Best of Young British Novelists (6pm, free but email to reserve a place).

Turkish journalist and novelist Ece Temelkuran is at Foyles discussing her work (6.30pm, free but email to reserve a place).

Notting Hill Editions celebrates the launch of four new titles and the William Hazlitt Essay Prize at Daunt Books in Marylebone (6.30pm, free, RSVP jess@nottinghilleditions.com).

Andrew Whitehead, Sarah Wise and Jon Day talk about how London is represented in fiction, at Housmans (7pm, £3).

Pighog Press presents an Anglo-American night at the Poetry Cafe, with Katharine Coles, John Barr, Judith Cair and Brendan Cleary (7.30pm, free).

Follow @LondonistLit for our pick of that day’s literary events.

Author appearances, poetry and spoken word events in London this week

Thursday 18 April: Mark Haddon and playwright Simon Stephens discuss The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time on page and stage at the Bloomsbury Institute (6.30pm, £10).

Sam Mills and Andrew Blackman are at Clapham Books to talk about their books Quiddity of Will Self and A Virtual Love (7pm, free).

Zinovy Zinik and his daughter Margarita Gluzberg talk about emigration and identity in art and literature, at Waterstones Piccadilly (6.30pm, free).

Michael Symmons Roberts reads from his latest collection Drysalter at the London Review Bookshop and talks about his work, with Jean Sprackland (7pm, £7).

Courttia Newland, Cathi Unsworth, Jerry White and Ken Worpole talk about London fictions, stories of the city, at the Bishopsgate Institute (7.30pm, £10 / £8).

Sarah Wise is at Kensington Central Library talking about psychiatry in Victorian England (6.30pm, free).

Find out about the Marquis de Leuville, a Victorian fraud in Kilburn, at Willesden Green Library Centre (6.30pm, free).

Tim Clare and Tony Walsh join the regular stand up poets at Bang Said the Gun (8pm, £7 / £5).

Kerry Hudson and Will le Fleming join Firestation Book Swap hosts Marie Phillips and Scott Pack for book chat and cake (7.45pm, £5 / free with homemade cake).

Suzannah Lipscomb and Mathew Lyons visit London Historians at The Bell in Spitalfields (7pm, £5).

Hear stories from Stations set in Brockley, Hoxton, Crystal Palace and Forest Hill at Forest Hill Library (7pm, free).

The South Bank Poetry Magazine launches issue 15 with Ruth O’Callaghan, Alexandra Fitzsimmons and others at the Poetry Cafe (8pm, £5.50 / £4.50).

Friday 19 April: See Travis Elborough on how old London Bridge ended up in Arizona, and Andrew Martin talking about the tube, at Wanstead Library (7pm, £5).

Word Factory 9 has Sam Lee, Katy Evans-Bush, Vanessa Gebbie and Tom Lee at Sutton House in Hackney (7pm, £10).

Turkish writer Kaya Genç is in conversation with Maureen Freely at the London Review Bookshop (7pm, £10).

Ovalhouse Theatre in Kennington presents a free night of spoken word from 9pm.

Harry Baker, Stephanie Dogfoot Chan, Anna Kahn, Tony Walsh and Sean Wai Keung take part in the Farrago Spring and Sonnet SLAM! (7.30pm, £6 / £5).

Saturday 20 April: Book Slam is moving into food with a (F)east at the Round Chapel in Clapton. You get a three course meal, Will Self, Adam Riches, Andrew Maxwell and Piff the Magic Dragon (6.30pm, £45).

Hear stories from Stations set in Rotherhithe, Sydenham, Norwood Junction and Forest Hill, in Coulsdon Library (3.15pm, free).

John Hegley and guests enjoy a spot of Elevenses at the Poetry Cafe (11am, £6 / £5).

Jane Yeh, John Godfrey and Maria Jastrzebska perform at Poetry in the Crypt (7pm, £4).

Sunday 21 April: Kat Francois hosts the Word4Word Poetry Slam in the Theatre Royal Stratford East Bar (7pm, free).

Katherine Gallagher and June English are the readers at Torriano Poets (7.30pm, £5 / £3).

Monday 22 April: Suzanne Joinson, Sophie Coulombeau, Molly Flatt, Bart Moore-Gilbert, Nicholas Lim and John O’Brien read at Vanguard at the Bear Freehouse (7.30pm, free).

John Mullan asks what matters in Jane Austen? at Kings Place (7pm, £9.50).

Rachida Madani launches her latest poetry collection with her translator Marilyn Hacker at the Mosaic Rooms (7pm, free).

Kid I Wrote Back runs an open mic at Bar Kick (7pm, £3).

Tuesday 23 April: Harlan Coben signs copies of his new thriller Six Years at Waterstones Leadenhall Market from 12.30pm.

It’s World Book Night! Pick up copies of the selected books at one of these events: Hardeep Singh Kohli hosts a star studded night at the Southbank Centre, with guests including Andrew Motion, Tracy Chevalier, Rose Tremain and Lemn Sissay (7.30pm, £10); Natalie Haynes, James Mayhew, Beverley Naidoo and Robert Douglas-Fairhurst are at Canada Water in support of Book Aid (7pm, £10); Blake Morrison, Nii Ayikwie Parkes and Sarah Mussi at Lewisham Library (8pm, free, RSVP in advance); Liars’ League at the Literary Kitchen (7pm); find other events near you on the World Book Night website.

Andy Kershaw talks about his life and book No Off Switch at Waterstones Piccadilly (7pm, £5 / £3). Elsewhere in the building, Ma Jian discusses the life of China’s literary dissident Hu Feng (7pm, £3).

Miles Jupp and Andy de la Tour – currently both on stage in Alan Bennett’s People at the National Theatre – talk stand up and cricket at Stratford Picturehouse (7pm, £5).

Agents Ella Kahn and Bryony Woods are the guests at London Writers’ Club Live (7pm, £15 / £20).

Ben Marcus discusses his “difficult” work with Christian Lorentzen at the London Review Bookshop (7pm, £7).

Poet Anthony Hett performs a spoken word play about isolation and the importance of talking (7.30pm, £4).

Niall O’Sullivan hosts the weekly open mic night at the Poetry Cafe (7.30pm, £5 / £4).

Wednesday 24 April: Terry Pratchett, Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen talk about the science of Discworld at Conway Hall. Book early, this is bound to be popular (7pm, £8 / £6).

Deborah Moggach chats about her new novel Heartbreak Hotel at Keats House (7pm, £5).

GREEdS hosts Jawdance at Rich Mix, with Deesense, Vaun Noir, Jazzman John Clarke and Rosanna Raymond (7.30pm, free).

Big Green Bookshop puts together a book swap with local writers Louise Millar, Andrew Blackman and Callum Jacobs (7.30pm, £5).

Michael Grant talks to journalist Lucy Mangan about Light, the final installment in the Gone series at Waterstones Piccadilly (6.30pm, £5 / £3).

Follow @LondonistLit for our pick of that day’s literary events.