Author appearances, poetry and spoken word events in London this week
Thursday 3 October
It’s National Poetry Day! The theme is water, but be a bit more original than just reciting The Ancient Mariner and find an event to go to via the NPD website.
The Southbank Centre‘s a good National Poetry Day option. As always, they have a full day of free events with loads of famous poets: Simon Armitage, Patience Agbabi, Francesca Beard, John Hegley and up-and-comers like Jo Bell, Anthony Anaxagorou and Indigo Williams. Free, from 1pm
Angry Sam hosts a poetry SLAM at the Genesis Cinema, sign up on the door. Free, 7pm
Poet Tom Chivers is leading more of his pilgrimages along the Walbrook river until Sunday. Book tickets (£10) or watch a quick trailer. Various times.
We loved their new anthology, now check out Bang Said the Gun in the flesh at The Roebuck. Guests are John Osborne and Jodi Ann Bickley. £7 / £5, 8pm
Jordan Stevens of Rizzle Kicks, Mr Gee, Hollie McNish, Oneness Sankara and El Crisis are the Spoken Word All Stars at Brent Civic Centre. £5 / £4, 7pm
Jazzman John Clarke, Catherine Spencer and Irenosen Okojie are at the Effra Social for Brixtongue. £7 / £5, 7.30pm
Martin Daws performs his spoken word at the Poetry Cafe. £3, 3pm
First in a series of Readings by the River at the Wapping Project is Rachel Cooke. £6, 7pm
Poets and comedians go head to head again at the Comedy Cafe, in Stand Up and Slam hosted by Dan Simpson. £8, 8pm
Jung Chang talks about the making of modern China at the LSE for the Royal Society of Literature. £8 / £5, 7pm
Five writers, including Emma Darwin and Lloyd Shepherd, read from their work and talk about writing history, at the Working Men’s College Library in Camden. Free, 7pm
Caro Fraser launches her new crime novel Errors of Judgement at Waterstones London Wall. 6pm
Friday 4 October
Linton Kwesi Johnson and Caryl Phillips talk to Maya Jaggi about their work and lives at the British Library. £7.50 / £5, 6.30pm
At the Wimbledon BookFest, pass your judgment on a short story competition (£7.50) or see John Sessions and José Maria Gallardo del Rey present Spanish poetry in English (£15). 7.30pm
Ruth Padel and Matthew Hollis read at the Camden Poetry Series. £5 / £4, 7pm
Saturday 5 October
London Lit Weekend starts at King’s Place. Catch Allan Ahlberg, Jung Chang, Elif Shafak, Sathnam Sanghera and Lottie Moggach among others. £6.50 or £9.50 / day pass £30.
Go to the London Welsh Centre for a celebration of Welsh literature, with appearances from, among others, Joe Dunthorne and Huw Edwards. £20, 10am-11pm
There are events for kids (Jez Alborough, David and Carrie Grant, Tony Kane) and adults (Max Hastings, Howard Goodall, Clare Mulley, Jane Thynne) at Wimbledon Bookfest.
John Hegley and friends are at the Poetry Cafe for Elevenses. £6 / £5, 11am
Jacob Sam-La Rose and local young people present contemporary poetry at Deptford Lounge featuring Inua Ellams and Malika Booker. Free, 2.30pm
Lovers of cats, poetry and/or TS Eliot should head for Keats House for some readings. Free with admission to the house, 3pm
Sunday 6 October
Big names in Wimbledon: Eoin Colfer, Jung Chang (clearly packing in as many events as possible this week), Kate Adie and Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
The London Lit Weekend at King’s Place has Penelope Lively, Jeremy Paxman, Jonathan Coe, Meike Ziervogel, Jane Thynne and more. Tickets £6.50-up to £30 for Paxman (including books) or £20 for a day pass which doesn’t include Paxman.
Peter Phillips and Angela Kirby are the guests at Torriano Poets in Kentish Town. £5 / £3, 7.30pm
Monday 7 October
Annexe introduces Dorothy Lehane, Eley Williams and Milou Stella in its latest pamphlets, launching with writers’ performances at the Betsey Trotwood. Free, 7pm
Andrew Motion (£15, 6.30pm) is at Wimbledon, as is Deborah Moggach introducing her daughter Lottie (£12.50, 7.45pm), whose debut Kiss Me First is one of the best novels we’ve read all year.
Maureen Johnson and James Dawson discuss the gender gap in young adult fiction, at Waterstones Piccadilly. £4 / £3, 6.30pm
Scott Jurek, author of Eat and Run, is at the Bloomsbury Institute. £10 / £6, 6.30pm
Coffee House Poetry hosts an evening with Mark Doty at the Troubadour on Old Brompton Road. £8 / £7, 8pm
Tuesday 8 October
Douglas Coupland talks about and signs copies of Worst. Person. Ever. at the Shaw Theatre. (We know the site says Thursday 8 October, but we’ve checked and everywhere else confirms they have the day wrong, not the date.) £10 / £20 with book, 7pm
Alexander McCall Smith marks a new installment of The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency at Daunt Books Marylebone. £8, 7pm
We don’t want to be cynical about this, and we’re sure her book is very funny, but we must be approaching Christmas: celebrity memoirs are coming out. Jennifer Saunders launches hers at the Southbank Centre. £15 / £12 / £25 inc book, 7.30pm
Lawyer Clive Stafford Smith has tales of corruption, prejudice and ineptitude from his book Injustice, at the Southbank Centre. £8, 7pm
Simon Sebag Montefiore is at Waterstones Piccadilly talking about his novel set in Stalin’s Russia. £5 / £3, 7pm
Liars’ League is getting in early for Halloween with stories at the Phoenix. £5, 7.30pm
Biographer Valentina Polukhina is at Waterstones Piccadilly talking about Josef Brodsky and Britain. £5 / £3, 6.30pm
See David Goodhart and Stephen Alambritis talk to Channel 4′s Faisal Islam about immigration (£15, 8.30pm), Joanna Trollope (£10, 7.30pm) or Philip Kerr (£10, 7pm) in Wimbledon.
Niall O’Sullivan hosts the Poetry Cafe‘s weekly open mic night. £5 / £4, 7.30pm
Wednesday 9 October
Brian Sewell and John Bird mark the 110th anniversary of Orwell’s birth, at Foyles. £5 / £3, 6.30pm
Penelope Lively discusses her memoir, or ‘view from old age’, Ammonites and Leaping Fish at Keats House. £5, 7pm
Courttia Newland is in conversation at Hackney Central Library. Free, 6.30pm
Faisal Islam is back at Wimbledon, this time talking about his own book The Default Line (£15, 8.30pm). Also see John Boyne, author of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (£7.50, 4.30pm).
David Boyle and Brett Scott are at Housmans talking about the new issue of STIR, on the future of money. £3, 7pm
Follow @LondonistLit for our pick of that day’s literary events.