A selection of bookshop readings, performances, literary lunches, salons, festivals and other writerly goings-on are listed here and regularly updated.
For your wider literary and cultural fix, check out the in-person and virtual event listings at the British Library, the London Review Bookshop, Waterstones, English PEN, the Southbank Centre, publisher and author websites and social media streams, as well as those of your local organisations and venues.
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Monday 15 January
Book launch: THE FOX OF KENSAL GREEN by Richard Tyrrell
Queens Park Books, 87 Salusbury Road, London NW6 6NH
6:30 to 8:30pm
FREE – all welcome
This is a story about people coming together and looking out for each other. No person is an island, including Wilf Kelly, its hero. Many neighbours help him out on the quiet. Also on the quiet, Wilf tames a wild fox and goes on a voyage of self-discovery. When he is accused of an awful crime, Wilf becomes the target of a police and media firestorm. It’s a drama that galvanises not just the local community but people from all around London.
A superbly written debut novel with a big heart, that will make you laugh, cry and remind you of the power of community spirit.
Read more
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Ongoing
Arvon courses and retreats
Online or in-person, from one hour at home to five weeks at historic writers’ houses in Devon, Shropshire and Yorkshire, you can find inspiration, support and transform your writing with Arvon. Discover a range of creative writing courses and events for writers of any genre and any level of experience.
Residential courses for Autumn/Winter 2025 include Poetry: Falling Headlong Into Your Greatest Obsessions with Caroline Bird, Stephen Sexton and Karen McCarthy Woolf (Lumb Bank, 17 to 22 November); Editing Fiction and Non-Fiction with Claire Fuller, Kaiya Shang and Juliet Pickering (Totleigh Barton, 24 to 29 November); Exploring Feminine Creativity with Nikita Gill, Salena Godden and Joelle Taylor (The Hurst, 1 to 6 December); Fiction: Finding Your Voice with Lisa Harding, Cynan Jones and Louise Doughty (Lumb Bank, 1 to 6 December); and Fiction: Art Imitates Life with Ashley Hickson-Lovence, Nicola Dinan and Eimear McBride (Totleigh Barton, 8 to 13 December).
More info and book
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