Author appearances, poetry and spoken word events in London this week
Thursday 6 June: Thomas Keneally talks about his new novel Daughters of Mars at Foyles (6.30pm, £5 / £3).
Grab the few remaining tickets for speakers like Alan Bennett, Simon Armitage, John Lanchester, Edna O’Brien and Sam Riviere at Independents Day at the ICA (various prices, up to £10).
The final few performances of Luke Wright’s Your New Favourite Poet take place at Leicester Square Theatre (7pm, £10 / £8).
Brian Aldiss is signing copies of Finches of Mars at Forbidden Planet on Shaftesbury Avenue from 6pm.
Curtis Sittenfeld’s only UK event is at Lutyens & Rubinstein, where she’s discussing Sisterland with Viv Groksop (7pm, £8).
Northern exiles should head to the London Review Bookshop to hear Paul Morley talk about it (7pm, £7).
Attila the Stockbroker and Jess Green are the guests at Bang Said the Gun stand up poetry night (7pm, £7 / £5).
Ben Pedroche and Mark Mason are signing their books about London’s power stations and the Underground at Waterstones Leadenhall Market (12.30pm).
Wendy Moore is at the National Portrait Gallery to explain how 18th century Thomas Day created his perfect wife (1.15pm, free).
Pele Cox, Kerry Hudson, Courttia Newland, Saira Shah and Meike Ziervogel read tales of family at the Holloway Arts Festival (7pm, free but reserve a place).
Clare Murphy, Debs Newbold, Maya Levy and the Kitchen Quartet are telling stories at Story Jam in Forest Hill (£5).
There’s an afternoon open mic at the Poetry Cafe hosted by Paul McGrane (3pm, free).
Glyn Maxwell and Robin Robertson read from their new poetry collections at The Print Room in Notting Hill (7.30pm, £8).
Friday 7 June: The Stoke Newington Literary Festival has been on for a bit, but today marks the first events there are still tickets for! How about seeing Elif Shafak, Reads Like a Seven (writing about video games) or Viv Groksop? Various prices or £50 weekend ticket.
Michael Rosen wants to tell your family all about Centrally Heated Knickers at the Pleasance, today and tomorrow (10.30am / 1.30pm, £10).
There’s more storytelling for adults at the Tea Box in Richmond (8pm, £6).
Mark “Mr T” Thompson and Sarah Thompson host Lipped Ink at the Poetry Cafe, with guest Errol McGlashan (7.30pm, £5).
The Camden Poetry Series launches its anthology, hosted by Ruth O’Callaghan (7pm, £5 / £4).
Saturday 8 June: There’s so much going on in Stoke Newington we only have space to pick a few highlights: Alex Clark plus Evie Wyld, Lottie Moggach, Stuart Evers and Gabriel Roth (2pm, free), Leviathan author Philip Hoare (3pm, £5), Spitalfields Life’s The Gentle Author (12.30pm, £5), Booker shortlisted Alison Moore (4pm, £5), London Noir with Cathi Unsworth and Mark Billingham (7pm, £6), Robin Ince and John Hegley (8pm, £10) and Literary Death Match (9pm, £5).
John Hegley takes Elevenses at the Poetry Cafe with guests (11am, £6 / £5).
Jeremy Sallon, Tom Bland, Errol McGlashan and Benedict Newbery are at the Poetry Cafe for Platform 1, plus open mic (8pm, £5 / £4).
Sunday 9 June: Stoke Newington Literary Festival comes to an all-too-soon end. We recommend London by Bridge, Tube and Pub (1pm, £5), London Fictions (2pm, £4), Georgian London with Ian Kelly and Lucy Inglis (3pm, £4), Ben Aaronovitch and George Mann (3pm, £5) and Polari (8pm, £4).
John Cooper Clarke is doing a huge gig at the London Palladium, plus guests Luke Wright, Salena Godden, Mark Thomas and more (7pm, £39.75).
Kat Francois hosts a free evening of spoken word SLAM poetry at Theatre Royal Stratford East (7pm).
Sophie Aldred – yep, Ace from Doctor Who – is one of the readers at Weird Lies in Ladywell (6pm, free).
Indigo Williams, Hollie McNish, Lanre, Agnes Meadows and Sabrina Mahfouz join Jumoke Fashola for Jazz Verse Jukebox (7.30pm, £8).
Monday 10 June: The Josephine Hart Poetry Hour at the British Library is all about the work of Sylvia Plath, introduced by Frieda Hughes and readers include Emilia Fox and Joanna David (6.30pm, £7.50 / £5).
Helen Simpson is at Stoke Newington Bookshop talking about her new story collection Bunch of Fives (8pm, £2.50).
William Dalrymple discusses the 1839 British invasion of Afghanistan at Daunt Books Marylebone (7pm, £8).
Tall Lighthouse press run an open mic night at the Poetry Cafe (7.30pm, free).
Tuesday 11 June: Felix Martin and Ha-Joon Chang are talking money and capitalism at Daunt Books Cheapside (6.30pm, £5).
Jane Gardam’s Last Friends completes her trilogy, and she’s talking about it at Keats House with Daunt Books (7pm, £5).
Marcel Theroux discusses his SF novel Strange Bodies with his father Paul at Daunt Books Marylebone (7pm, £8).
An event that isn’t happening at Daunt is Liars’ League, this month all tales themed for Kings and Queens, at the Phoenix (7.30pm, £5).
Niall O’Sullivan hosts the Poetry Cafe‘s weekly open mic night Poetry Unplugged (7.30pm, £5 / £4).
Wednesday 12 June: Jen Campbell reveals more weird things customers say in bookshops, at Woolfson & Tay (7pm, free but book ahead).
Sri Lankan born Australian author Michelle de Kretser is in conversation with AS Byatt at Foyles (6.30pm, £5 / £3).
Hear bits of Mr Darwin’s Gardener by Kristina Carlson and find about the process of translation, at Belgravia Books (7pm, free but book ahead).
Follow @LondonistLit for our pick of that day’s literary events.