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.