RIDE THE WORD

Ride the Word XIX
Free Event
Christmas Special
'Short Circuit' Celebration
at
The CAFE YUMCHAA
Tuesday 15th December 2009
6.30 for 7pm - till 9pm
45 Berwick Street, Soho, London W.1
With
Vincent de Souza,
Jay Merill,
'Short Circuit' Editor, Vanessa Gebbie
Salt Publishing Director, Jen Hamilton-Emery
Arts Editor of 'Prospect' Magazine, Tom Chatfield
and
Tania Hershman, Sarah Salway,
Marian Garvey, David Gaffney, Lane Ashfeldt
Elizabeth Baines, Chika Unigwe,
David Grubb, Alex Keegan, Catherine Smith
also
Floor Spots on first come first served basis
Hosted by
Jay Merill and Vincent de Souza

(nearest Tube: Oxford Circus, Tottenham Court Rd.,
All Oxford Street buses - to Berwick St stop)

The Troubadour

One of my favourite places for readings etc in London is The Troubadour Cafe - and this poetry evening coming up on Monday 19th October looks particularly good. It's a mix of poets I've read, and some that are new to me, so I look forward to hearing some fresh voices.

Coffee House Poetry Features: David Constantine Introduces Sasha Dugdale, Stephen Romer, Lucy Newlyn, Joseph Butler, Jenny Lewis, Robert Saxton And Jane Draycott

More details here.

Venice is a fish...

I do speak to people who aren't called Sarah, so I'm grateful to my friend Michelle for bringing this event to my attention - it's the launch of the wonderful sounding book, Venice Is A Fish.


Here's a bit about the event:

Date: Thursday, July 10, 2008

Opening times: 7pm

Venue: Italian Cultural Institute, 39 Belgrave Square, London.

Organised by: ICI

In collaboration with: Serpent’s Tail

Tickets £5. Free for our members but booking essential on 020 7396 4406

And here's a bit about the book:

This is not just another book on Venice, but quoting Erica Jong, ‘…A gorgeous tribute to one of the strangest and most beautiful cities on earth. Was it Henry James or Mary McCarthy who said, “There is nothing new to say about Venice”? Tiziano Scarpa has proved them both wrong.’


And the people involved:

Tiziano Scarpa reads passages from Venice is a Fish and talks about the book and the city with Michelle Lovric.

Tiziano Scarpa is a poet, novelist, playwright and essayist. His novels including Eyes on the Broiler and Western Kamikaze and his radio play Pop Corn received international acclaim.

Michelle Lovric is the author of three historical novels set in Venice. Her third novel, The Remedy, was longlisted for the Orange Prize for fiction.

Burma

From English Pen:

FREEDOM WRIT LARGE

Stand in solidarity with Aung San Suu Kyi and the writers of Burma
English PEN event Thursday 25 October, 7pm

We have watched aghast while the Burmese people have courageously demonstrated against repression and suffered the brutal consequences. New arrests are made every day, and the true number of the detained and disappeared remains unknown. The Myanmar authorities are withholding information about the location of these political prisoners, as well as the charges and conditions they are facing.

PEN knows of at least six journalists and poets who were arrested as a result of organising or reporting the protests. They join a large number of writers who have been imprisoned, harassed and persecuted for decades, many of whom continue, despite the odds, to smuggle out their pro-democracy opinions – including poetry expressing their personal concern for one another. It is time to stand in solidarity with them and support their right to freedom of expression.

On Thursday 25 October at 7pm English PEN is hosting an evening dedicated to Aung San Suu Kyi and other writers who are voices of conscience in Burma. New English translations of their work will be read alongside their remarkable personal stories and previously unseen film footage of interviews with Burmese writers will be shown, including the last interview with the admired comedian and poet Zargana, filmed before he was arrested last month. The event will also be an opportunity to hear the views of Burmese exiles and some of Britain’s leading writers on the recent protests in Burma. It will close with the signing of an open letter of support to Aung San Suu Kyi.

Speakers and readers include:

John Pilger, journalist and human rights campaigner

Benedict Rogers, expert on Burma

Pascal Khoo Thwe, the acclaimed Burmese novelist

Justin Wintle, Aung San Suu Kyi’s most recent biographer

Maureen Lipman, long dedicated to the Burmese cause

Zoya Phan, Burma Campaign UK spokeswoman

Melissa Benn, novelist and journalist



All proceeds will go to support English PEN’s Writers in Prison Programme and to directly benefit Burmese writers now in exile or under threat.

Time: Thursday 25 October - 7pm
Venue: Guardian Newsroom, 60 Farringdon Road, London EC1R 3GA
Tickets: £10 members, £12.50 non-members

Tickets include a complimentary glass of wine after the talk, courtesy of Waitrose Wine

To book: Call 020 7713 0023 or book online.

Pen Event

Deathless Prose

Veronica Horwell, Martin Vander Weyer and Hugo Vickers
chaired by Jonathan Heawood

Tuesday 19 June, 7pm

The obituary is one of the most challenging of all forms of literature. It was not for nothing that Mark Twain complained that reports of his death had been exaggerated. Turning the chaos of life into a few succinct paragraphs that are at once respectful, illuminating and honest is a task beyond all but the hardiest writers. And who are obituaries for anyway - friends, family, or immortality? Obituarist Martin Vander Weyer, Business Editor of the Spectator, is joined by the royal biographer Hugo Vickers and columnist and obituarist Veronica Horwell to explore the darker corners of the newspaper pages.

Time: 7.00pm

Tickets: £5.00 PEN Members / £7.00 non-members (includes a glass of wine after the talk, courtesy of Waitrose Wines)

Venue: The Guardian Newsroom, 60 Farringdon Road, London, EC1R 3GA

How to book: On-line at www.englishpen.org/events/ or call 020 7713 0023

TALKS: Debate London

News of an interesting looking debate at the Tate Modern

London is furiously on the move. Powered by an economic boom, it is changing, growing, diversifying. New planning policies allow for enticing new possibilities: iconic skyscrapers, tens of thousands of new homes, transformation and re-generation. New-look London is sexy and glamorous. But will such a shiny vision make London better?

This summer The Architecture Foundation explores the issues at the very heart of what it means to be a Londoner today: Will the 2012 Olympics bring any good? Are we creating a London that's good enough for our kids? Can we turn the big smoke green?

The four debates, held in the Turbine Hall, with a youth debate for London school students, leave an important legacy of London now by posing pertinent questions and projecting exciting visions for its future. Join the debate and have your say at www.debatelondon.com

Sponsored by: City of London, Derwent London, Land Securities
Supported by: Arts Council England, Billboard, Cabe, Evening Standard, Tate

Friday 22 June - Monday 25 June

Debate London: Is London a United City?
Friday 22 June, 19.30-21.30
Tate Modern, Turbine Hall
£8 (£5 concessions), booking recommended
Booking fee applies

Debate London: The 2012 Wish List - What Kind of London Do We Want?
Saturday 23 June, 19.30-21.30
Tate Modern, Turbine Hall
£8 (£5 concessions), booking recommended
Booking fee applies

Debate London: How Can a Boomtown be Green?
Sunday 24 June, 19.30-21.30
Tate Modern, Turbine Hall
£8 (£5 concessions), booking recommended
Booking fee applies

Debate London: Can London be Both Big and Beautiful?
Monday 25 June, 19.30-21.30
Tate Modern, Turbine Hall
£8 (£5 concessions), booking recommended
Booking fee applies

Debate London: Generation London
Monday 25 June, 13.30-15.30
Tate Modern, Starr Auditorium
Free, first come first served
Places are limited

Mark Wallinger Presents
Late at Tate Britain
Friday 1 June, 6 – 9.45pm

Mark Wallinger questions the right to protest and the limits of art. What are the principles of free expression? What might constitute the moral imperative to transgress the law and exercise the right to speak out? Joining Wallinger are Lisa Appignanesi, Shami Chakrabarti, Brian Haw, John Hegley, Hari Kunzru, Geoffrey Robertson, Jerry Sadowitz and Adrian Searle, protest choir Raised Voices and invited guest Mark Thomas.

Mark Wallinger has recreated peace campaigner Brian Haw’s Parliament Square protest for a dramatic new installation at Tate Britain. Running along the full length of the Duveen Galleries, State Britain consists of a meticulous reconstruction of over 600 weather-beaten banners, photographs, peace flags and messages from well-wishers that have been amassed by Haw over the past five years. In bringing a reconstruction of Haw’s protest before curtailment back into the public domain, Wallinger raises challenging questions about issues of freedom of expression and the erosion of civil liberties in Britain today.

For more information about the event and Tate Britain please visit http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/eventseducation/lateattatebritain/

Time: 6-9.45pm
Tickets: These will be available from 6pm on the evening at the Clore Gallery Entrance
Venue: Tate Britain, Millbank, London, SW1P 4RG