Crick Crack Club is at The Forge on 29 October
Ongoing
Throughout October, Footprints of London tour guides are running the Literary Footprints Festival, with over 40 author- and book-themed talks and walks dotted about the city.
ArchWay With Words festival brings the likes of Charlie Higson, Will Self, Stella Duffy, Lisa Jewell and John Hegley to the area around Archway Market. 11-24 October
The Dylan Thomas in Fitzrovia Festival celebrates what would be Thomas’s 100th birthday with recitals, talks, art exhibitions and more. 20-26 October
Thursday 23 October
BORIS JOHNSON: The Mayor of London is at Hatchard’s on Piccadilly to sign copies of his new book, The Churchill Factor: How One Man Made History. 12.3opm, or at Leadenhall Market Waterstone’s tomorrow, also 12.30pm
ANTHONY HOROWITZ: Several events are going on to celebrate the launch of Horowitz’s new book: Moriarty, which returns to the world of Sherlock Holmes. Set days after the events at the Reichenbach Falls, it follows the investigations of Pinkerton agent Frederick Chase, who, following the death of Moriarty, joins forces with a Scotland Yard officer who is a student of Holmes’ methods. From 3.30pm, Horowitz himself will be taking a carriage ride through London, on a whistle-stop tour of several Waterstones stores, 3.30pm-6pm. Waterstones Piccadilly has Horowitz talking about the book with Paul Blezard. £10/£5, prebook, 6.30pm. Read our interview with Anthony Horowitz here.
SHEILA HANCOCK: Bloomsbury Book Club hosts actress Sheila Hancock, who will be discussing her debut novel, Miss Carter’s War, with her friend and fellow author Kate Mosse. £25/£10, prebook, 6pm
DYLAN THOMAS: Attend the recording of a radio drama at the British Academy marking the centenary of the birth of Dylan Thomas. In homage to Under Milk Wood, fellow poet and playwright Glyn Maxwell writes of his own home-town, Welwyn Garden City, the utopian dream of Ebenezer Howard, on its one hundredth birthday in 2020. Free, prebook, 6pm
LIT LOUNGE: London Literature Lounge at Keats House is an evening of poetry with open mic. Writer, broadcaster and Director of London Literature Lounge, Anjan Saha, will read from his collection Lost Luggage. Free, prebook, 6.30pm
LIBERTY: Shami Chakrabarti, Director of Liberty, is at Daunt Books in Marylebone to talk about her book, On Liberty, which explores the importance of defending fundamental rights and freedoms, and the pressure placed on them in the changed world post 9/11. £8, prebook, 7pm
LOCAL AUTHOR: Dulwich Books hosts the book launch of The Green Door with local author Christopher Bowden. Free, just turn up, 7pm
NEW WRITERS: Foyles on Charing Cross Road tries out a new format event tonight, featuring a panel of up-and-coming authors and an audience of readers exploring the road to publication and what lies beyond. Chaired by journalist Alex Clark. Free, prebook, 7pm
SHAUN USHER: Waterstone’s Richmond has an evening with Shaun Usher, who is talking about his new book, Lists of Note. Hear what Snow White’s seven dwarves could have been called or what was on Leonardo da Vinci’s to-do list. £3, prebook, 7pm
70 FILMS: Iain Sinclair is at London Review Bookshop to discuss his new book, 70×70: Unlicensed Preaching, with novelist and film-maker Chris Petit and composer Susan Stenger. The book showcases the 70 seminal films that Iain chose to mark his 70th birthday, to be screened at a variety of venues across London. £10, prebook, 7pm
RAMAYANA ON STAGE: The Ramayana – stories of Rama’s quest to rescue his wife Sita from her abduction by Raavana, Lord of the Underworld – is brought to the Rich Mix stage by poet Daljit Nagra. £9/£7, prebook, 7.30pm
Friday 24 October
TALES OF TERROR: As part of British Library’s Gothic Terror season, Crick Crack Club and world-renowned storytellers Jan Blake and TUUP host an adult storytelling evening (14+ years) of sorcery, bloodsucking, and shape-shifting. £8/£6/£5, prebook, 6.30pm
ROGER McGOUGH: Redbridge Central Library hosts poet Roger McGough reading from his new book of poetry, As Far As I Know. £8/£5, prebook, 7pm
Saturday 25 October
KEATS WALK: Follow in the footsteps of John Keats on a guided walk starting at his birthplace, and visiting the areas where he lived and studied, including Cheapside, Apothecaries Hall and Guys Hospital. £10/£8, prebook, 11am
NON-VIOLENT CAMPAIGNS: Housman’s Bookshop hosts the launch of second edition of the Handbook for Nonviolent Campaigns. Speakers at the launch include Jungmin Choi of World Against War in South Korea, Hulya Ucpinar of the Nonviolence Research Center in Turkey, and more. Free, 6.30pm
SPORTS WRITERS: Roy Keane and Roddy Doyle are in conversation with BBC’s Matt Williams at Lord’s Cricket Ground, as part of London Sports Writing Festival. £10, prebook, 7.30pm
WAXING LYRICAL: Spoken word night Waxing Lyrical is back at The Dissenting Academy. Hosted by Deanna Rodger, there’s a headline set from celebrated Hammer And Tongue Slam Champ Tommy Sissons, live music and an open mic. Free, just turn up, 7.30pm
Sunday 26 October
JO BELL: Keats House Poets present a relaxed afternoon of poetry and spoken word with an open mic and performances from poets including Jo Bell. Free, just turn up, 2pm
TORRIANO POETS: This week’s poetry reading at Torriano Poets Meeting House in Kentish Town features Dan Kennedy and Peter Donnelly. £5/£4, just turn up, 7.30pm
VELVET TONGUE: The erotic literature salon returns to The Book Club in Shoreditch, with contributions from Jacky Donovan, Daniel Richards, Nairobi Thompson and Jay Walker, as well as open mic slots. £5/£3, 7pm
DYLAN THOMAS: Southbank Centre hosts a gala night of music and words celebrating the centenary of the birth of Dylan Thomas. The charity concert features Owain Arwel Hughes and Camerata Wales and readings by special guest stars including Robert Bathurst, Tom Hollander, Lesley Manville, John Owen-Jones, Siân Phillips, Jonathan Pryce and Griff Rhys Jones. £15-£38, prebook, 8pm
DEATH MATCH: Chris O’Dowd and Nick Vincent Murphy are guest readers at this month’s Literary Death Match at Concrete in Shoreditch. Four authors read their own work for seven minutes or less. They’re judged by three well-known judges who respond to the work before choosing two finalists. £7/£9, prebook, 8pm
Monday 27 October
LIBRARY TOUR: Take a behind-the-scenes tour of Bishopsgate Institute Library. Find out what the ‘battle of the books’ was and why the Institute locked away one archive item from the public fearing it may cause revolution. Free, prebook, 6.30pm
ANTHONY HOROWITZ: Anthony Horowitz is at the Museum of London to talk about new novel Moriarty with Professor of Victorian Literature and Culture, Clare Pettitt (Kings College, London) and Sherlock exhibition curator, Alex Werner. £10/£8, prebook, 7pm
JOAN OF ARC: Helen Castor is at West End Lane Books to talk about her new book, Joan Of Arc. Free, prebook, 7.30pm
AL KENNEDY: New Cross Learning hosts an evening with AL Kennedy. The author will be reading from and signing her new book All The Rage. Proceeds from the event go towards keeping New Cross Learning open. £10/£8, prebook, 8pm
Tuesday 28 October
LONDON DATA: Stanfords’ Long Acre Store hosts geographer James Cheshire and designer Oliver Uberti to talk about their London-centric book, The Information Capital. Those clever chaps have taken all sorts of information about London and mapped it. Which borough of London is the happiest? Where are the city’s tweeting hot spots? How many animals does the fire brigade save each year? If you get hold of a copy of the book, keep an eye out for Londonist’s own contribution. £3, prebook, 6.30pm
AMBIT LAUNCH: The quarterly literary and art magazine launches its latest issue at the Sun and 13 Cantons in Soho. £5 (or free with a purchase of Ambit), 7pm
EDWARD LIMONOV: Emmanuel Carrère is at Lutyens & Rubinstein bookshop to discuss Limonov, his book originally in French and now translated, about the outrageous life of one of Russia’s greatest living enigmas, Edward Limonov. He’s in conversation with Robert McCrum, Associate Editor of the Guardian. £8, prebook, 7pm
SALENA GODDEN: Poet, writer and performer Salena Godden makes an appearance at Big Green Bookshop in Wood Green, celebrating the publication of her poetry collection Fishing in the Aftermath and her memoir Springfield Road. Free, prebooking essential, 8pm
Wednesday 29 October
FOR BOOK’S SAKE: Head to The Proud Archivist in Haggerston for a Halloween themed For Book’s Sake. Rosie Garland and Dr Wanda Wyporska will be reading from their respective books and then discussing the demonisation of women in history and historical fiction, followed by a Q&A. £6/£8/£10, prebook, 6.30pm
DISAPPEARING POETS: Tonight’s event at King’s Place explores the lives and motives of two poets, who disappeared separately. In 1873 the French poet Arthur Rimbaud disappeared to become an explorer and arms dealer in the Horn of Africa. In 1979 the British poet Rosemary Tonks, regarded as one of the leading poets of the time, similarly disappeared, severing all connection with the literary world, and spent the rest of her life living as a near recluse in Bournemouth. £9.50, prebook, 7pm
ANIMAL MADNESS: The Freud Museum near Finchley Road has an author’s talk by Laurel Braitman. Her book, Animal Madness, is about how mental illness can manifest itself in animals (particular reference to dogs) in the same way that it does in humans. £10/£7, prebook, 7pm
ADULT STORYTELLING: Crick Crack Club storytelling for adults is at The Forge in Camden. Storytellers Dominic Kelly, Mikael Oberg, Ben Haggarty and Emily Parrish lead a mythological themed evening, with music by Jonah Brody and Hannah Sanders. £10/£8, prebook, 7.30pm
MIDNIGHT BOOK LAUNCH: The British Library is the location for the midnight launch of Anne Rice’s new gothic novel, Prince Lestat, where ticket holders can get hold of a signed copy of the book and have an out of hours wander around the current exhibition, Terror And Wonder: The Gothic Imagination. £28, prebook, 10pm
Follow @LondonistLit for our pick of that day’s literary events.