Pop-Up Festival brings books to life for children. Photo: Patrick Boyd/Pop Up Projects
Festivals
STREATHAM FESTIVAL: Although not entirely dedicated to literature, Streatham Festival has a couple of literary events going on, including a novel writing workshop with local author Bobbie Darbyshire, a chance to meet author Patricia L Graham, and a spoken word event. 10-13 July
COMIC CON: Several authors appear at London Film and Comic Con, including Mitch Benn who will be signing copies of Terra’s World, Jon Wallace, Ed Cox and Den Patrick who will giving tips to first-time authors and crime/fantasy writers Ben Aaronovitch, Paul Cornell and Suzanne McLeod. 11-13 July
POP-UP STORIES: Pop-Up Festival, a literary festival for children and their families, comes to Swiss Cottage this weekend. The festival aims to bring books to life for young readers through activities such as arts and crafts, and workshops led by by writers, illustrators, poets & storytellers. Free, 12-13 July
Thursday 10 July
MRS HEMINGWAY: Naomi Wolf, author of novel Mrs Hemingway, which explores the love life and marriages of writer Ernest Hemingway, is at Waterstone’s Richmond to discuss the book. £3, prebook, 6.30pm
REBECCA FRONT: Comedy actress Rebecca Front is at Waterstone’s Piccadilly to discuss her debut book, Curious: True Stories and Loose Connections. £5/£3, prebook, 6.30pm
SARAH RAYNER: Waterstone’s Hampstead hosts an evening with Sarah Rayner, author of Another Night, Another Day, who will be in conversation with her editor, Francesca Main. £3 (£1 donated to MIND), prebook, 7pm
POETRY LAUNCH: Issue 2 of The Screech Owl magazine is launched at Poetry Cafe in Covent Garden with poetry readings from Helen Ivory, Grant Tarbard, David Cooke, Bethany.W.Pope, Jonathan Beale, Rodney Wood & Greg Freeman. £5, 7pm
PARISIAN NOVEL: French Playwright Yasmina Reza is at London Review Bookshop in Bloomsbury with translator Sarah Ardizzone to talk about her new book, Happy are the Happy, which is about family life in modern day Paris. £10, prebook, 7pm
MURDER: Natalie Young, author of Season To Taste. Or how to eat your husband, is at Big Green Bookshop in Wood Green talking about a book in which the protagonist kills her husband and then sets about disposing of the body. £3, prebook, 7pm
SURVIVORS’ POETRY: The Poetry Cafe in Covent Garden hosts Survivors Poetry, with work from Jessica Lawrence and music from Maggie & Lucy Lyrical, Dave Russell and Kath Tait, plus there’s an open mic. £3.50/£2.50/£1.50, prebook, 8pm
Friday 11 July
BRITISH HORROR: Waterstone’s Covent Garden hosts the launch of new anthology Best British Horror. Meet the editor and some of the authors who will be there for readings, a Q&A session and signings. 6.30pm
CRIME MYSTERY: Meet debut author Emma Healey at Blackheath Library to talk about her book, Elizabeth Is Missing, an unsolved crime mystery. Hosted by Waterstone’s. 7.30pm
Saturday 12 July
POETRY WORKSHOPS: Daljit Nagra, Keats House Poet in Residence, leads a series of poetry workshops, based on examples from contemporary and historical poetry. £10, prebook, 2pm
AFRICA WRITES: Former Minister of Education of Ghana and writer Ama Ata Aidoo is in conversation with writer, translator and critic Wangui wa Goro at the British Library. Aidoo discusses the themes in her novels Our Sister Killjoy and Changes: A Love Story, which feature strong female protagonists who defy traditional gender roles. Part of the Africa Writes series of events. £8/£6/£5, prebook, 6.30pm
NEW POETS: Platform 1 at the Poetry Cafe in Covent Garden sees up-and-coming poets perform alongside established names. £5/£4, 8pm
Sunday 13 July
LONGITUDE MARITIME QUEST: National Maritime Museum in Greenwich opens a major new exhibition, Ships, Clocks and Stars this week. It celebrates the 300th anniversary of the passing of the Longitude Act in July 1714, which helps sailors to navigate. The exhibition catalogue book launch takes place on Sunday, with a discussion by curators Rebekah Higgitt and Richard Dunn. £12/£5, prebook, 3pm
POET AND PAINTER: Award-winning American poet Carol Dine is in conversation with painter and Holocaust survivor, Sam Bak, live from Boston, and actress, Thelma Ruby, at Ben Uri Gallery. They will read from Carol Dine’s new book, Orange Night. Free, prebook, 4.30pm
AFRICAN LITERATURE: Southbank Centre hosts The Caine Prize For African Writing, with each shortlisted writer reading and discussing their work. The shortlist includes Diane Awerbuck and Efemia Chela while the judging panel includes author Jackie Kay and novelist and playwright Gillian Slovo. £8, prebook, 5pm
TORRIANO POETS: This week’s poetry reading at Torriano Poets Meeting House in Kentish Town features Mimi Khalvati, Patricia McCarthy and Ruth O’Callaghan. £5/£4, just turn up, 7.30pm
Monday 14 July
POET IN THE CITY: As part of the City of London Festival, Poet in the City presents London Calling, celebrating the publication of My Voice: A Decade of Poems from The Poetry Translation Centre. International poets Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi from Sudan, Caasha Lul Mohamud Yusuf from Somalia/ Somaliland and Reza Mohammadi from Afghanistan will be reading their work, joined by UK translators. £8, prebook, 6.30pm
FOODIES: Telegraph food writer and cook Xanthe Clay and chef Dhruv Baker are at Stanford‘s in Covent Garden for the launch of Baker’s new book, Spice, which has advice on how to use the contents of the spice jars which hide at the back of most people’s kitchen cupboards. £3, prebook, 6.30pm
POETRY FILMS: Four Minute Movies is an open mic filming session for poets, storytellers & comedians at Poetry Cafe in Covent Garden. To qualify, work has to be a single piece, four minutes in length, which tells a story. £4, 7.30pm
ANTHOLOGY ADVICE: How do you edit an anthology? This is the question being answered by Jane McMorland Hunter at Stoke Newington Bookshop tonight. She has written several books, including Ode to London. £2.50, prebook, 8pm
Tuesday 15 July
TERRA’S WORLD: Mitch Benn is at Forbidden Planet on Shaftesbury Avenue to launch his second novel, Terra’s World, a sequel to Terra, and sign copies of the book. 6.30pm
POETRY LAUNCH: Templar Poetry is at Keats House in Hampstead to launch Dawn Wood’s new poetry collection Ingathering. Also launching that evening is Mslexia Poetry Prize winner Sarah Roby’s pamphlet, This Afternoon and I. Free, prebook, 7pm
ARTFUL DODGER: Big Green Bookshop in Wood Green hosts an evening with James Benmore, author of best-seller Dodger, and recently published sequel, Dodger of the Dials. £3, prebook, 7pm
AMERICAN JOURNEYS: Gruff Rhys, the lead singer and guitarist of Super Furry Animals, wrote American Interior about retracing the journey across America made by his distant relative, the pioneering explorer and cartographer John Evans. He is at London Review Bookshop in Bloomsbury to discuss it, with Iain Sinclair, whose wrote his own American odyssey, American Smoke. £10, prebook, 7pm
Wednesday 16 July
HAPPY VALLEY: Juliet Barnes talks about her latest book, Ghosts of Happy Valley, at Hatchard’s bookshop near Green Park. In the book she finds out what happened to “Happy Valley”, the Wanjohi Valley in the Kenya Highlands where a group of affluent white expatriates settled between the wars. £8, prebook, 6.30pm
BOOKSHOP BARNIES: In the first of a series of Bookshop Barnies events at the new Foyles store on Charing Cross Road, writer and broadcaster Jonathan Meades talks about his autobiography, An Encyclopaedia of Myself. Free, prebook, 6.30pm
SPACE TALK: The Star of Kings pub in Kings Cross hosts spoken word evening Utter! Space!, celebrating Apollo 11′s 45th anniversary. Writers are given a planet each and eight minutes to speak about it, going head-to-head in a battle of words hosted by Richard Tyrone Jones. £5/£4, prebook, 7pm
BOOK SLAM: Four female authors are at The Grand in Clapham. Lauren Beukes talks about her well-known novel, The Shining Girls, and Laura Lippman reads from her novel, After I’m Gone. Plus Fiona Bevan and Jess Green will also be talking. £6, prebook, 7.30pm
MUSICAL POETRY: The Centre of Things is a poetry reading with music at The Poetry Cafe in Covent Garden. Geraldine Paine, launches her second collection, The Beginnings of Trees, Anne Stewart reads from her collection, The Janus Hour, and poet, lyricist, singer, songwriter and guitarist Steve Anthony provides the music. £4, prebook, 7.30pm
Follow @LondonistLit for our pick of that day’s literary events.