Thank you to all our wonderful speakers and attendees for last night's event 'Speaking Out: Voices Celebrating LGBT HIstory Month'. We had amazing people in the house - artist Aliyah (Come see her exhibition Home And Away - it's on till Mar 11 in our gallery), Cllr Mark Gettleson, publisher/writer Helen Sandler (Tollington Press), filmmaker Campbell X (watch out for Stud Life, coming soon to cinemas near you), author/aerialist Will Davies, award-winning author Paul Bailey (who shared about his early days in theatre opposite Christopher Plummer, among his many recollections on being 'queer' in the 50s), poet/performer Andra Simons - and wonderful sharing. Many thanks goes to Southwark LGBT Network for their support towards the event and exhibition. Do check out their website (http://southwarklgbtnetwork.com/) and the services they provide; membership is only £1, so join up to enjoy the many events and activities they organise. Thank you everyone so very much for making the event a very special one!

An enchanting evening with author Peter Clark on Dickens' London, whose talk focused on Bermondsey in Dickensian Literature.. (Sorry Bermondsey folks, the only characters from Bermondsey in Dickens' works were nefarious sorts, think Bill Sykes.) To celebrate Dickens' Centenary, artist James Matthews also dropped by with a bust of the great man himself. It was awful sweet of two guests, who happened to have roses on them, to ask at the end of the night, whether it would be okay to leave the roses in front of the bust as a homage :)

W&T are very grateful to survivor Leslie Kleinman, author Jake Wallis-Simons (The English German Girl), artist Gitl Braun, poet Eve Grubin, and local councillor Mark Gettleson for sharing their time with us in making this year's Holocaust Memorial Day event a memorable and moving one. Thank you also to Jewish Book Week 2012 and Holocaust Education Trust for their support. We ended this year's event with a reading of the poem We Remember Them by everyone who attended. Many of those who joined us at this commemoration event have asked about this poem, so we have reproduced it here (see below).

We Remember Them

At the rising of the sun and at its going down
We remember them.
At the blowing of the wind and in the chill of winter
We remember them.
At the opening of the buds and in the rebirth of spring
We remember them.
At the blueness of the skies and in the warmth of summer
We remember them.
At the rustling of the leaves and in the beauty of autumn
We remember them.
At the beginning of the year and when it ends
We remember them.
As long as we live, they too will live;
for they are now a part of us
as we remember them.
When we are weary and in need of strength
We remember them.
When we are lost and sick at heart
We remember them.
When we have joy we crave to share
We remember them.
When we have decisions that are difficult to make
We remember them.
When we have achievements that are based on theirs
We remember them.
As long as we live, they too will live;
for they are now a part of us
as we remember them.

© Jewish Prayer Book/ Sylvan Kamens & Rabbi Jack Riemer

Bestselling authors Lesley Pearse, Adele Parks, Katie Fforde and Carmen Reid were at Canada Water Library recently for the Girls Night In event.
For more info about these authors and their latest book, please visit
http://www.lesleypearse.com/
http://www.adeleparks.com/
http://www.katiefforde.com/
http://www.carmenreid.com/

Journalist, adventurer and intrepid traveller Ben Fogle was at the spanking new Canada Water Library yesterday evening to speak about his latest travels and promote his latest book The Accidental Adventurer. It was the library's first large-scale author event. For W&T, it was a milestone for us too. The first time we'd sold books off-site; kinda like a pop-up shop. For more info on Ben, visit his website; to check out Canada Water Library, visit the Southwark Council site or the Canada Water Campaign website. Impressive!

London's Underworlds: Sebastian Groes, Maureen Duffy And Oliver Harris In Conversation, 12 Oct 2011.

It was a lovely treat last night to have three London authors share their insight into the seamier, darker sides of London as portrayed in the literary world through the ages. Thank you very much Sebastian, Maureen and Oliver! An extra special thank you to Maureen, who despite not feeling very well, participated in the event. Sebastian Groes' latest work is The Making of London, Oliver Harris' debut novel is The Hollow Man, a detective thriller set in... you guessed it, London :) (Signed copies available in store.) Maureen Duffy's latest work is The Orpheus Trail, a dark and chilling thriller.

For more information on the authors, visit
Sebastian Groes' author page on Palgrave Macmillan
Maureen Duffy's website
Oliver Harris' author page on Jonathan Cape

Debut author Michael Richmond addressed a well-packed audience at Woolfson & Tay this evening. Sharing his personal experiences of depression, Michael recounted how he was homebound for 2 years not so long ago. In conversation with Christopher Somerville,  Michael spoke frankly about his battle with mental illness, his impressions of the treatment process and his road to recovery, interspersed with readings of excerpts from his compelling and highly regarded first novel Sisyphusa. He fielded questions from the audience, many of whom later told us how inspired they were by Michael's story. Thank you Michael for your courage and honesty, and to Christopher for facilitating a beautiful event.

To read more about Michael's story and a review of Sisyphusa, click here.

I am constantly astounded by the many things I learn from authors and speakers at our events and last night was not any different. Barry Albin-Dyer OBE, of F.A. Albin & Sons, the famed funeral directors of Bermondsey, shared his recollections of growing up in Bermondsey and of the changes in the community and his trade over the decades he has lived in the area. The business has been in his family for 221 years. The secret to business longevity? 'You have to love what you do, you have to love the people you work with, and the people you work for' (the customers), according to Barry.

Barry shared some memories of conducting his first funeral when he was a young man of 17, that of a West Indian child and of how he realised different cultures mourn in different ways; of attending to the the servicemen who have lost their lives in distant lands like Iraq and Afghanistan (where he or his colleagues stay with the body from the moment they arrive at the mortuary until he/she arrives home);  of passing through towns like Wootton Bassett which for many years had the responsibility of welcoming home British war heroes and had done so of their own accord in their bit to honour the fallen men and women and their grieving families (Barry spoke of how he was choked with emotion when leading a convoy of hearses once, and the crowd broke out into spontaneous clapping - see this Daily Mail article about the voluntary service Wootton Bassett residents have given); of the day he received a letter from the PM's office about his nomination for an OBE (it was on the day of his father's funeral; distracted and grief-stricken, he put the letter into his father's coat pocket and forgot about it); of the mother who stayed with her son's body over several days at the funeral parlour and later informed Barry she was a clairvoyant and told him things only he could have known...

Thank you Barry for sharing these memories and thoughts with us, Greg Watts who collaborated with Barry on his latest book Square Pegs In Round Holes, and Cllr Anood Al-Samerai for saying a few words about Barry. Thank you to Steve Punter who generously allowed us to share his photographs of Barry attending to Jade Goody's funeral, and all who joined us on this very special evening.

Fran
13 September 2011

It was a real treat for everyone last night for several reasons. Firstly because it was a double author event with two amazing authors over from the US in one room. Secondly - and I know I have been going on about this in our emailers - because Simon is one of Shivaun's favourite authors and this was his only London outing in a bookshop this trip.

Molly Peacock, poet and biographer, shared amazing images of Mary Delany's work and her fascinating life, describing brilliantly the textures of Mrs Delany's collages (one audience member told me afterwards, "I have to go to the British Museum now and see the real thing for myself"). Simon read beautifully and with great humour. Afterwards the authors answered some questions from the audience, providing contrasting insights into their processes. It was a lovely event and we were delighted to hear audience members sharing with us how much they enjoyed it. Thank you all for coming and thank you Simon and Molly!