Author appearances, poetry and spoken word events in London this week
Thursday 9 May: Bright Club takes to the Bloomsbury Theatre for a night of comedians and academics talking about reading (7.30pm, £8 + bf).
Psychoanalyst Darian Leader is at the London Review Bookshop discussing bipolar disorder (7pm, £7).
Thom Byles, Jess Green, Roundhouse Poets and Yasmine Latkowski offer up an evening of Music and Words at the Gallery Cafe in Bethnal Green (7.30pm, £5).
William Sieghart, Jacob Sam-La Rose and Rhian Edwards perform poetry in the library at the Bush Theatre (7.30pm, £12).
Comedian Ben Moor reads from his new stage show at Bookseller Crow on the Hill (7.30pm, £3).
Ronnie McGrath and Kerry Young perform at the Caribbean Literary Salon, Free Word Centre (7.15pm, £8 / £5).
Colin Pyle talks about his 18,000km motorcycle trip round China at the Festival of Asian Literature (6.45pm, £10 / £8).
Mark Grist and Gwyneth Herbert join the regulars for Bang Said the Gun (8pm, £7 / £5).
It’s free party night again with The Book Stops Here: readers are Nell Leyshon, Joanna Rossiter and Mave Fellows (8pm).
Emma Conway, Ian Davidson and Juha Virtanen provide the spoken word at POLYply 25 (7pm, free).
Head to Waterstones London Wall to hear Patrick Flanery talk about his latest novel, Fallen Land (5.30pm, £5 / £3).
Friday 10 May: Bobbie Friction, Siddhartha Bose, Ravinder Bhogal and DJ Nihal asks if British Asians will ever be seen as cool, at the Festival of Asian Literature (6.45pm, £10 / £8).
iF Poetry presents Sinead Cusack and guests at Poetry in the Library at the Bush Theatre (7.30pm, £12).
Sally Pollard hosts Poetry Jam at The Tea Box in Richmond (7pm, free).
Steve Keyworth and Stephanie Gerra introduce Jukebox Story at the Poetry Cafe, an evening of stories inspired by songs that are about or feel like the future (7.30pm, £6 / £5).
Danny Wallace is signing copies of his novel Charlotte Street at Waterstones Leadenhall Market from 12.30pm.
Saturday 11 May: There’s events for kids at the Festival of Asian Literature from 11am, then a workshop on how to get published in Asia and the UK (2pm, £10 / £8).
More for kids at Dulwich Books, where Gareth Edwards reads from his book The Disgusting Sandwich (11am, free).
The London Radical Book Fair takes place at Conway Hall 10am-5pm. Speakers include Danny Dorling, Eveline Lubbers, Wendy Cooling and Ken Livingstone.
Sophie Willan shares an autobiographical tale that is heart-warming, heart-breaking, ridiculous… and sort of true at the Albany (8pm, £5).
Tom Bland, Errol McGlashan and Benedict Newbery host Platform 1 at the Poetry Cafe, where up and coming poets perform alongside more established acts (8pm, £5 / £4).
Sunday 12 May: Wander Hampstead Heath while debating Elizabeth von Arnim’s The Enchanted April with the Daunt Books Walking Book Club (11.30am, free).
Jehane Markham and Martina Evans are the guest readers at Torriano Poets (7.30pm, £5 / £3).
Musa Okwonga, Giles Hayter, Keith Jarrett, Jasmine Cooray and Jason Maverick join Jumoke Fashola for Jazz Verse Jukebox, plus music from David McAlmont and Guy Davies (7.30pm, £8).
Monday 13 May: Lionel Shriver launches her 11th novel, Big Brother, at Kings Place (7pm, £9.50).
The Independent’s Steve Richards goes behind the scenes of British politics with Jenni Russell, Rafael Behr and Jesse Norman at Kings Place (7pm, £9.50).
Novelist and playwright Ayad Akhtar is in conversation with Sarfraz Manoor at Bush Theatre (7.30pm, £6).
Exiled Writers Ink at the Poetry Cafe is all about Colombia: Ruth Padel, Lemn Sissay, Raficq Abdulla and Barbara Lopez will appear (7.30pm, £4 / £2).
Get some new views on WG Sebald at UCL’s Festival of the Arts (6.30pm, free).
James Astill and Ed Hawkins discuss cricket and the Indian middle class at the Asia House Festival of Asian Literature (6.45pm, £10 / £8).
Tuesday 14 May: Liars League stories are all about Kings and Queens at the Phoenix (7.30pm, £5).
Jan Blake tells the story of The Old Woman, The Buffalo and the Lion of Manding, at Soho Theatre (8pm, £9 / £7).
Rachel Caine and Sarah Rees Brennan talk teen horror at Foyles (6.30pm, £3).
Get the experts’ take on China from Jonathan Fenby, Gerard Lemos and Yuwen Wu at the Festival of Asian Literature (6.45pm, £10 / £8).
Join Andrew Taylor for a literary dinner and chinwag about his new novel The Scent of Death at Hardy’s Brasserie (7pm, £40).
Niall O’Sullivan hosts Poetry Unplugged open mic night at the Poetry Cafe (7.30pm, £5 / £4).
Wednesday 15 May: European Literature Night happens simultaneously in capitals across the continent. Our contribution is at the British Library with Norbert Gstrein (Austria), Miha Mazzini (Slovenia), Erwin Mortier (Belgium/Flanders), Ece Temelkuran (Turkey), Jordi Punti (Spain/Catalonia), Jáchym Topol (Czech Republic), Birgit Vanderbeke (Germany) and Frank Westerman (Netherlands): 6.30pm, £7.50 / £5).
Four authors shortlisted for the Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award (Kerry Hudson, Lloyd Shepherd, Ros Barber and Patrick Flanery if you want specifics) are reading and chatting at Foyles (6.30pm, free).
China Miéville talks about his work with The White Review’s Ben Eastham at the London Review Bookshop (7pm, £7).
Jo Shapcott and Matthew Hollis are the poets in the library at the Bush Theatre (7.30pm, £12).
John Mullan hosts a Jane Austen quiz night at UCL: test your knowledge of Darcy et al (6.30pm, free).
The Festival of Asian Literature hosts a literary salon with Krys Lee, Prajwal Parajuly and Selma Dabbagh (6.45pm, £10 / £8).
Michael Kossew hosts Natural Born Storytellers telling tales of shame at the Camden Head (8.15pm, free).
Dr Joseph Hanlon reveals the stories of ordinary Zimbabweans, at Woolfson & Tay (7pm, free, book in advance).
The Southbank Centre‘s head of literature and spoken word, novelist James Runcie, offers a preview of what’s coming up in the London Literature Festival (7pm, free).
John Mackay, Abegail Morley, Jeremy Worman and Tamar Yoseloff help celebrate The Frogmore Papers’ 30th birthday at the Poetry Cafe (7pm, free).
Follow @LondonistLit for our pick of that day’s literary events.