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.