The Mookse and the Gripes discussion

Jonathan suggested this thread.

A place to post author readings, festivals etc, including those connected with topics / authors we cover here. And a possible chance for Mookse and Gripers to meet up - as some of us did at the Goldsmiths Readings.

As a starter and with Man Booker International season looming, last year's winning translator Deborah Smith and last year shortlistee and this year's Judge Daniel Hahn are appearing in Lancaster in England on 22 March to discuss: What does it take to become a literary translator?

Free tickets here
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/transl...

What prompted me on this one was the release of the Charleston (Sussex, UK) Festival programme for May 2017.
I realise that it's a long way to travel for those living outside Southern England (though the exchange rate favours Europeans and Americans both, at the moment)

The line up of Authors participating in discussions and readings is very strong.
In no particular order, among those appearing are Ann Patchett, Sarah Perry, Colm Tobin,Elizabeth Strout, Deborah Levy, Richard Ford, Helen McDonald, Madeleine Thien,

The setting is absolutely wondrous.

Jonathan wrote: "What prompted me on this one was the release of the Charleston (Sussex, UK) Festival programme for May 2017.
I realise that it's a long way to travel for those living outside Southern England (thou..."

Madeline Thein is appearing with Elif Shafak (another on this year's MBI Jury, and whose new novel has had some very strong reviews ) in a session that looks particularly good:

http://www.charleston.org.uk/events/r...

George Saunders in London talking about Lincoln in the Bardo which is a hot tip from some forum members to take this year's Booker...

Free tickets here for Wed 15 March:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-go...

Yes and Saunders is in Manchester on the 17th for those of us 'oop North'...I shall be going.

An evening with Arundhati Roy

For those God of Small Things fans from 1997, the author is back in 2017 with her first novel since then. And appearing in London in June - tickets (not free I'm afraid) here:

https://membership.theguardian.com/ev...

Author A L Kennedy gives a keynote address reflecting on the future of European authorship in a post-Brexit context. She is then joined in conversation by two authors from the continent hand-picked by the EUNIC London selection committee, Clemens Meyer from Germany and Francesca Melandri from Italy. Chaired by Arifa Akbar. This event is followed by a reception.

https://www.bl.uk/events/european-lit...

Clemens Meyer is of course on the MBI 2017 longlist.

New season at the Southbank

https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/blo...

Highlights include Zadie Smith and - most excitingly for me - Orhan Pamuk with his forthcoming new novel.

On sale 12 May.

I see that Margaret Atwood and William Boyd are also giving audiences later this year.
All very exciting!

And for any of you near Boston, Massachusetts, Strout is reading from and discussing Anything Is Possible on May 8th at 6 at the Coolidge Corner Theater in Brookline. Cheap tickets were still available yesterday.

Another event for those in the Boston area: Harvard Bookstore has Colm Toibin reading from House of Names at the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge on May 18th at 6PM. The event is ticketed. The novel could be a strong contender for the Booker 2017 longlist - I'm speculating based solely on several excellent early reviews that I've read. I really like Toibin's work (although not so much The Testament of Mary) so I'm looking forward to this new novel. Greek tragedy!

For all Thomas Bernhard and translated fiction enthusiasts:
London Review Bookshop:

We're hosting two events to celebrate the brilliant contemporary writing coming out of the tiny Central American state of El Salvador.

On Thursday 1 June, we'll be launching Vanishing Points, a new anthology of Salvadoran prose, which aims to challenge the idea of a 'national literature' by showcasing the array of writing talent both from within the country and from the Salvadoran diaspora.

We'll also be welcoming one of El Salvador's most exciting exports, Horacio Castellanos Moya, to the shop on Thursday 29 June. With novels such as Revulsion: Thomas Bernhard in El Salvador.

Jonathan wrote: "For all Thomas Bernhard and translated fiction enthusiasts:
London Review Bookshop:

We're hosting two events to celebrate the brilliant contemporary writing coming out of the tiny Central America..."

As resident Thomas Bernhard and translated fiction fan, thanks for that. The only Horacio Castellanos Moya I have read to date is Senselessness, which was OK but nothing spectacular.

This Bernhard pastiche has been on my radar but I haven't bitten so far. The GR reviews (eg from Nicole from this group), at least those that aren't from friends of the translator, tend to be along the "if you want to read Bernhardian prose, read Bernhard" lines. That will be re-read in my case, but luckily he is one of the few authors whose books I keep.

Have you read any of Horacio Castellanos Moya?

Will wrote: "Another event for those in the Boston area: Harvard Bookstore has Colm Toibin reading from House of Names at the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge on May 18th at 6PM. The event is ticketed. The novel co..."
Fantastic, I will yell my son about that one. He has seen Colm Toibin with me in Edinburgh a few times.

Jane Gardam appears at Porter Square Books in Cambridge (Massachusetts) on Friday, June 16th, at 7PM. I think that Gardam is a wonderful writer, and I regret that we have an out of town commitment that night. If any of you attend—Will?—please let us know your impressions. What a treat!

Dan, thanks for the info on Jane Gardam. I'm embarrassed to say that I have never read her. I've heard great things about her and have meant to check her out but never have. Don't know that I will attend since I don't know her work. Maybe.

Another appearance of note happening in Boston: Arundhati Roy reads from The Ministry of Utmost Happiness on June 20th at 7PM at the Old South Church 645 Boylston St, Boston. It is a ticketed event through Harvard Book Store.

I wish I lived in Boston! My son said Toibin was great.

Will, Jane Gardam was born in 1928. She's reading from Old Filth, a fine novel that was published in 2006. It's remarkable to me that she's doing this reading, let alone at a venue as small as Porter Square Books.

I would really love to hear both Jane Gardam and Arundhati Roy, but unfortunately we're away for both readings.

Ang, I recommend Toibin's new Letters to a Young Writer. Even for me—I'm neither young nor a writer—it was fascinating.

I would LOVE to go to see Gardam, and will try. I'll be out of town for Roy, however.

Unfortunately, Porter Square Books won't be able to make audio available of Jane Gardam's reading. The PSB staffer seemed as mystified as I am about how Gardam and her publisher chose PSB for her reading.

Dan wrote: "Unfortunately, Porter Square Books won't be able to make audio available of Jane Gardam's reading. The PSB staffer seemed as mystified as I am about how Gardam and her publisher chose PSB for her r..."

As a blogger I gave a talk there once and Gardam's OLD FILTH was my recommended summer read. Not saying I had anything to do with it, but it would be nice if it was.

Went to see Gardam, and she had a nice crowd of mostly 60+ devotees who clapped when the Old Filth series was mentioned by her editor from Europa. The fact that Europa was her editor gave a clue as to why Porter Square Books was chosen: they are a bit of an indie publisher trying to make their way among heavy-weights and I think they like to support indie bookstores as well. They had a v. strong voice working for them online at one time who also worked as a bookseller at PSB, called Boston Bibliophile.

Anyway, Gardam read from her upcoming memoir, of which I gathered there would be more than one volume...as she says, "once you start remembering and telling the tale, all the rest comes flooding back." She also said, and I could tell from her reading of something v. detailed from 8 yrs old, that "when one is a fiction writer, it is difficult to keep fiction from creeping into one's work, even if one is trying to tell it straight." Her memoir will have the feel of fiction, though, as she says, she still has Nelson's tea cupboard (blue & gilt on the outside, red on the inside) in her house presently to prove it is all true.

Thanks, Trish, for your comments on Gardam’s reading. I’ve read two of the three novels in Gardam’s Old Filth trilogy. I enjoyed both, actually even more than God on the Rocks. Part of my enjoyment of Old Filth and The Man in the Wooden Hat probably flows from just how much I enjoy the Filth acronym.

It’s disappointing to me how the audiences for readings by novelists seem to sort themselves by age. I recently attended Zadie Smith’s reading of Swing Time at the First Parrish in Cambridge, and my wife and I were probably among the oldest in the large audience. Recent readings by Gish Jen and Elizabeth Strout, both probably in their 60s, attracted noticeably older audiences.

I’m now looking forward to reading Gardam’s memoir.

London Literature Festival Sun 15 Oct – Wed 1 Nov 2017
at the Southbank Centre, London SE1.

16 October 7.30pm Man Booker prize shortlist readings
Royal Festival Hall

then there's a number of events featuring Nordic literature, including:
23 October 7.30pm
Portrait of Author, Karl Ove Knausgård latest book "Autumn"

29 October 4:00 pm Per Petterson

Yum. Sounds great.

Harvard Book Store tickets for Salman Rushdie's September 8th reading of The Golden House available now. Claire Messud also reading from The Burning Girl on September 5th. My wife and I plan to attend Rushdie's reading, and perhaps Messud's also. If you plan to attend, perhaps we could meet for coffee.

Geesh, sold out already. Ah well, so popular.

No, I'm not receiving a commission from Harvard Book Store. Two additional potentially wonderful readings in September: Knausgaard with James Wood on September 12th, and Orhan Pamuk on September 25th.

Charleston, Sussex have just announced their line up for the "Small Wonder" short story festival running 27 Sept- 1 Oct 2017.
Themes are identity, immigration and protest.
The speaking events are individually priced, but to justify traveling any sort of distance there are various sessions running back to back on a given day. A whole day ticket is also available.
Those attending include:
Wed 27 Sept: Gwendoline Riley
Sat 30 Sept: Neel Mukherjee; Joanna Trollope;David Szalay
Sun 1 Oct: Penelope Lively; Anne Enright; Neel Mukherjee

Wimbledon Book Festival which has grown from a very low key local event to very good line ups have Ali Smith, Jane Gardam and Rushdie this year. It is always special to have a tent on the common:

https://www.wimbledonbookfest.org/

For Dave Eggers fans (I like his writing and admire what he has done as a publisher), he, Vendela Vida, Katie Kitamura and Hari Kunzru are at the Curious Arts Festival this weekend:

http://curiousartsfestival.com/

It will be my first time there. There is literature, music and stand up comedy.

The whole programme looks great!

I see that Eimear McBride is appearing too. She's good fun at these events.

I see that Eimear McBride is appearing too. She's good fun at these events."

I heard her at last year's Goldsmith Prize shortlist readings, she is great fun.

Sunday, October 22nd at the 92nd Street Y: Blake Bailey and Ben Taylor discussing Philip Roth's collection of essays, Why Write? Collected Nonfiction: 1960-2013, to be published in early September by Library of America. I'm hoping to arrange a NYC trip that weekend and that tickets will be still available.

Kamila Shamsie reading from Home Fire on Thursday, August 17th at 6:30 at the Coolidge Corner Public Library in Brookline, Massachusetts.

I'm not sure of the dates, but the publicity statement I got about Home Fire says Shamsie will be appearing throughout August in South Hadley, Boston, NYC, Washington D.C., and Pittsburgh.

If you're close to one of those stops, I'm sure you can find the information on Riverhead's website.

Joshua Cohen reading from his new book Moving Kings and in discussion with Jon Day at London Review Bookshop, Bloomsbury on 2 October 7pm.

Fancy nipping down to London, Lee?

Cheltenham Festival appearances posted last week.
Some possible highlights with specific links to Literature Prizes/discussions in this Mookse group:

Tuesday 10 October 7-8.45pm Gwendoline Riley "Love & Obsession"

Saturday 14 October 2.30-3.45pm The Cheltenham Booker: 1937
Damian Barr, Adam Kay, Jackie Kay, Adam Thorpe and Alex Wheatle discuss A.J. Cronin’s The Citadel, Ernest Hemingway’s To Have and Have Not, Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men and J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. Which would have triumphed, had The Man Booker Prize existed eighty years ago?

Saturday 14 October 4.45-6.00pm The 2017 Man Booker Prize Shortlist panel discussion with shortlisted authors chaired by by Gaby Wood, Literary Director of the Booker Prize Foundation

Orhan Pamuk will be traveling the Northeast to promote his newly translated The Red-Haried Woman (which I just started while on a lunch-time walk).

Sept. 25, 7pm: Cambridge, MA, Harvard Bookstore at First Parish Church
Sept. 26, 7:30pm: NYC, Symphony Space
Sept. 28, 7pm: Washington, DC, Politics & Prose
Oct. 2, 7:30 pm: Brooklyn, Brooklyn Public Library

A future event and one that has me particularly excited:

Alice McDermott reads from The Ninth Hour: A Novel
October 2, 2017 6:00 PM at the Brattle Theatre
40 Brattle St., Cambridge, MA
Ticketed event: online pre-sales (ticket + book) on sale Aug 17
$5 tickets on sale Aug 31 at 9am
Sponsered by The Harvard BookStore.

Will wrote: "A future event and one that has me particularly excited:

Alice McDermott reads from The Ninth Hour: A Novel
October 2, 2017 6:00 PM at the Brattle Theatre
40 Brattle St., Cambridge, MA
Ticketed ev..."

Ah, McDermott is a favorite. But we're already signed up for Rushdie and Pamuk, and I hope to attend Shamsie's reading too. So probably no on McDermott. But please post any reactions if you attend.

Dan - McDermott is one of my favorite US authors so I do plan on attending. I did see her once before, but I think it may have been close to 20 years ago. I hope to attend the Shamsie tomorrow, but that could change. Would like to see Pamuk (although I haven't purchased my tickets yet - probably shouldn't be putting that off.) We've had a few very good author events lately.

Will wrote: "Dan - McDermott is one of my favorite US authors so I do plan on attending. I did see her once before, but I think it may have been close to 20 years ago. I hope to attend the Shamsie tomorrow, but..."

Will, I'll probably go to McDermott on Thursday. I'm a bald old guy with glasses and a short grey beard, probably wearing blue shirt. My wife says that I should say "older", not "old," but "old" is more specific. If you're there, say hello.

Ali Smith is doing the 2nd Goldsmiths lecture on 27 September in London.

Tickets are free and you get to hear the Goldsmiths shortlist as well.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-ne...

MBI winning 한강 (Han Kang) has a new book out - The White Book, reputed to be her best yet.

Appearing around the UK in November:

13 November: Han Kang with Max Porter at Waterstones Tottenham Court Road, London
14 November: Han Kang at Spike Island, Bristol
15 November: Han Kang with Deborah Smith at Waterstones Deansgate, Manchester

Paul wrote: "MBI winning 한강 (Han Kang) has a new book out - The White Book, reputed to be her best yet.
Listed for early November UK release. I'm very much looking for to reading it.

A very special and rare event with Hertha Muller at the British Library this Sunday. There are still tickets available:

https://www.bl.uk/events/herta-m%C3%B...

Orhan Pamuk on Friday this week at the South Bank - and I have a free ticket if anyone would like it......

Paul wrote: "Orhan Pamuk on Friday this week at the South Bank."

I also have a ticket and a Turkish first edition of his Illustrated Istanbul book to be signed.

Ben McNally Books in Toronto sponsoring dinner at The Hot House with Jon McGregor on October 23rd. I've never been to The Hot House, but Ben McNally Books is a fine book store.