authors – and so she thinks

London’s voices – life in the global city

admin — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 20:09:57 +0000

Many artists and visitors to London are inspired to create. The capital infuses the sentences of books, the scenes of TV, the worlds of films, either as a location, character, or just a sense. The second year of London Book & Screen Week, taking place 11 – 17 April, 2016 reveals an eclectic array of events all over the capital in a seven day celebration of the popular culture the city inspires.

London’s voices – life in the global city is an intimate evening at London’s museum of immigration, 19 Princelet St, with readings, performances and talks from four authores. These Londoners have all come from other places, and write about their experiences of immigration, building a home, connection with other centres, and what it means to be in a global city today.

On the line up is Amanda Elhag-Paul, a young Londoner who uses the mediums of writing & performance to express herself, drawing on personal anecdotes for her social commentary. Ayisha Malik is a British Muslim, lifelong Londoner, and lover of books and like many creative divides her time between writing, being an editor, and studying. Sofia Khan Is Not Obliged is Ayisha’s debut novel. Sathnam Sanghera is an award-winning journalist, author and trustee and board chair for Creative Access, a charity which helps find internships in the creative industries for talented young people from under-represented backgrounds. And Nikesh Shukla is the acclaimed author of Coconut Unlimited which was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award 2010 and longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize 2011, The Time Machine and Meatspace, as well as editor of the forthcoming anthology, The Good Immigrant.

Taking place at 19 Princelet Street, the first museum of immigration and diversity in Europe, the event takes the museum’s values of debate, dialogue and connectedness to explore the role of immigration within the city, and the importance of conversation.

Thursday, April 14, 2016 from 7:00 PM to 9:30 PM

Museum of Immigration – 19 Princelet Street Spitalfields, London E1 6QH, United Kingdom

Tickets are available here

London Short Story Festival

admin — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 07:44:00 +0000

Short stories seem to be on the ascendancy. They’ve never been ignored, with Aesop, Hemingway, Mansfield and Munroe all making them their signature artform, but in recent years there seems to have been a greater respect and excitement afforded to this most potent form of writing. A good short story is like a magic spell, and must draw you in to its irresistible charms without you even noticing. There can be no preparation or laying of foundations, just bam, straight into the emotion and excitement. Our lives are made of short stories, little episodes taking place every day, and these brief moments of intense feeling are what make up the greater narrative, be that the narrative of a novel or a lifetime.
London Short Story Festival is all about celebrating the form, and from 19-21 June will be doing just that. Centred around Waterstones, Piccadilly, authors present include Joe Dunthorn, a short story writer, novelist and poet, best known for the excellent novel ‘Submarine‘, Salena Godden, a prolific and powerful spoken word artist, Joanna Walsh who has been publishing short stories for a number of years and Jon McGregor who has recently been named by The Guardian as one of the Top Ten writers to see live, but there’s also a whole host of publishers, critics, illustrators and teachers taking to the platform across the program. Much of the festival’s value is in bringing like minded people together, and events such as a special edition of The Word Factory, described as ‘a series of intimate short story salons bringing brilliant writers and readers together for wine, conversation and great work’ certainly help to do that. For those wondering how to get their writing heard and read the Short Story Gatekeepers session will certainly be of interest, there will be a masterclass on finding your own voice with Anita Sethi and Spread The Word reveal more about their Flight 1000 development programme.
Writers, readers, short story lovers and those new to the genre will all learn something new, find something magical, and be reminded of why, when it comes to writing, quality trumps quantity every time. Tickets are available here.