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!

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

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!

The evening began in a suitably undignified and silly manner - reciting the Hooting Yard Chant accompanied by the clashing of a tambourine to get everyone into the appropriate mood for an evening of lugubrious music (provided by Outa_Spaceman a.k.a. David) and lopsided prose (delivered by Frank Key). Frank's performance was once reviewed by the Guardian, in which the reviewer bestowed the following honour on Frank - "Frank Key can probably lay claim to having written more nonsense than any other man living." The audience at W&T were certainly not spared! My favourite? "I had a hammer" which goes something like this "I had a hammer. I hammered in the morning. I hammered in the evening all over this land. I hammered out danger. I hammered out a warning. I hammered out love between my brothers and my sisters all over this land. They should have seen that coming. As I said, before I hammered the love out of them, I hammered out a warning. It was hardly my fault if they thought I was just larking about. Personally, if I had seen one of my siblings roaring towards me at dusk, armed with a hammer, I’d have made a run for it, particularly when it was clear I had been hammering things all day all over this land...." For more, see Frank's website hootingyard.org. Thank you Frank and OutaS for a truly enjoyable and absurd evening!

What a special treat last night! Jude Cowan launched her exhibition For The Messengers at W&T and to show his support, Channel 4 newsman Jon Snow was on hand to say a few words. Jude read from her book of poetry of the same name, and shared about her work - poetry and art - in response to the news. (She is a news archivist for ITN/Reuters.) Jude also shared raw footage of journalist Fadel Shana's last moments, when the cameraman was killed in Gaza, so that the audience could get a visual sense of the kind of materials she processes daily in her job. It was shocking and thought-provoking, to think of the 'sanitised' versions of the newsfeed we see on TV. Jude's book was dedicated to 'messengers' like Fadel and many like him; the people and lives behind the images we see which are often invisible to us. During the Q&A, Jon and Jude provided rare insight and commentary into the decisions made behind the scenes of every news broadcast. Questions raised included the role of 'mediators' played by professional news workers, the increase in mobile phone images of events taking place in real time captured by everyday people (e.g. Gaddafi's final moments), and how the latter has impacted what we have access to. Jon spoke of the pros and cons of the proliferation of such images and their importance - in the Sri Lanka tragedy for example, these images were proof of war crimes committed, something that has not been available in previous tragedies, from Bosnia, Croatia to Rwanda. But is such images were readily seen on TV, would this desensitize viewers? Would younger viewers connect the dots that this was real? Or would these images seem to be an extension of other violent images, like those in video games? Thank you Jude and Jon for an insightful evening.

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

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!

What can I say? I laughed so hard my jaw's still hurting and the event was 3 days ago!

Comedians Rosie Wilby and Jen Brister gave us a taste of their brand new shows ahead of Edinburgh Fringe. (Good luck Rosie and Jen - break a leg!)

What an awesome and brilliant night - the wine flowed, the jokes were belly-achingly wonderful, the crowd was friendly and warm; what more could one ask for? Don't miss Rosie Wilby's 'Rosie's Pop Diary' or Jen Brister's 'Jen Brister is British(ish)' - the ladies will be on tour! Check out their websites for their next appearances - they're not to be missed!

Rosie's website http://www.rosiewilby.com/
Jen's website http://www.jenbrister.co.uk/

What a lovely event with US artist Dwora Fried, poet Charlotte Innes and American actresses-based-in-London Stephanie Ellyne and Erin Hunter (video coming soon!) Dwora provided glimpses into the process of creating her artwork; e.g. Glee (see below) which was a commentary on her wedding to Jehan three times "until it stuck." Thought-provoking, her assemblage art pieces are imbued with personal stories and social commentaries that will make you take a second, if not third look. The "Boxed In" exhibition will be on display till 31 August 2011, and all artwork on display are for sale at £350 each. For more details on Dwora and her work, visit www.dworafried.com

"Fried has captured miniature operas and intimate moments in her boxed assemblages. At first they seem wondrous and playful, but take a closer look." - Advocate Magazine, US, March 2011