Lifestyle

Mayfair Times is hosting the Mayfair & St James’ Literary Festival

There’s a new festival in town and it’s all about the literary world.

Mayfair Times is hosting the Mayfair & St James’ Literary Festival in partnership with the Josephine Hart Poetry Hour, next week from Tuesday 16 to Sunday 21 October.

Events are held across different venues in Central London, and include several feminism-focused talks such as ‘21st Century Women’ – curated by Fru Tholstrup and Jane Neal – featuring contemporary female British artists, and ‘Will women save the world?’ – a conversation between Paola Diana, author of Saving the World, and Princess Tessy De Luxembourg, UNAIDS ambassador.

Another experience, on Friday 19th October 6.30pm-8.45pm, is the celebration of one of the world’s most famous writers; Oscar Wilde. Wilde’s only grandson, Merlin Holland, will be doing a reading from ‘The Ballad of Reading Gaol’, while award-winning stage and screen actor Simon Callow will read Wilde’s iconic last poem. Tickets are £25, including champagne and canapes, and all of the proceeds go to the George V Fund for Actors in Need.

If classic literature isn’t your forte, you could go along to Handel & Hendrix for a series of talks and poetry readings influenced by Jimi Hendrix (which includes a tour of the flat he lived in during the late 60s) or a discussion of Frida Kahlo’s influence on fashion and music industries.

Others taking part in the festival include musician Bob Geldof and Downton Abbey’s Elizabeth McGovern.

There’s plenty more and most of the events are free. See the full event schedule below and buy tickets here: http://www.pubbiz.com/article/event-listings/

MAYFAIR & ST JAMES’ LITERARY FESTIVAL: FULL SCHEDULE

 

Tuesday 16th October

9am-10.30am
Unit London Gallery, 3 Hanover Square, London W1S 1HD
21st Century Women – curated by Fru Tholstrup and Jane Neal
Q&A with the curators and one of the artists and tour of the exhibition.
https://m-stjlitfestunitlondon.brownpapertickets.com/
FREE

4.45pm-5.30pm
Mayfair Library, 25 South Audley Street, London W1K 2PB
The Adventures of Yopane: Bon après-midi – An interactive afternoon of language, culture and fun for young children
Email [email protected]
FREE

WEDNESDAY October 17

4pm-5.30pm
Maison Assouline,196A Piccadilly, London W1J 9EY
Talk and Q&A with Susana Martínez Vidal, author of ‘Frida Kahlo: Fashion as the Art of Being’
https://m-stjlitfestmassouline.brownpapertickets.com/
FREE
9.15pm-10.15pm
Crazy Coqs
20 Sherwood Street, London  W1F 7ED
Rob Sears: The Secret Lives of Don and Vlad
https://www.brasseriezedel.com/live-at-zedel/rob-sears-oct-2018
£15
6.30pm-8.30pm
The Nehru Centre (the cultural wing of the High Commission of India) 8 South Audley Street, London W1K 1HF
A tribute to V.S. Naipaul with Farrukh Dhondy
Co-hosted by Mrs Girija Sinha (wife of the Indian High Commissioner) and Selma Day, Editor of Mayfair Times.
https://www.nehrucentre.org.uk/events/mayfair-st-jamess-literary-festival/
FREE

THURSDAY October 18

1pm-2.15pm
St James’s Church, 197 Piccadilly, London W1J 9LL
The Josephine Hart Poetry Hour: Poetry of the Great War
https://m-stjlitfeststjchurch.brownpapertickets.com/
FREE

6.30pm-8.30pm
London Library, 14 St James’s Square, London SW1Y 4LG
The Josephine Hart Poetry Hour: Poems by TS Eliot
Downton Abbey’s Elizabeth McGovern will be giving a reading
http://www.londonlibrary.co.uk/component/content/article/38-member-module/1830-poetry-hour
From £12.00

FRIDAY October 19

3pm-4.30pm
Handel & Hendrix, 25 Brook Street, London W1K 4HB
A series of talks and poetry readings influenced by Jimi Hendrix as songwriter and lyricist.
Including a tour of the flat Hendrix lived in from 1968-1969.
http://handelhendrix.org/whats-on/events/
£15
6.30-8.45pm
The MayFair Hotel, Stratton Street, London W1J 8LT
The Josephine Hart Poetry Hour: Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Ballad of Reading Gaol’ Merlin Holland, Oscar Wilde’s grandson, will read Josephine Hart’s introduction and award-winning stage and screen actor Simon Callow will read Wilde’s iconic last poem.
Cast and directed by Shevaun Wilder.
https://m-stjlitfestmayfairhotel.brownpapertickets.com/
£25

SATURDAY October 20

5pm-7pm
Novikov, 50A Berkeley Street, London W1J 8HA
Will women save the world? A conversation between Paola Diana, author of Saving the World, and Princess Tessy De Luxembourg, UNAIDS ambassador
[email protected]
FREE

SUNDAY October 21

7pm-9pm
Corrigan’s Mayfair, 28 Upper Grosvenor Street, London W1K 7EH
An Evening of Irish Poetry and Song
With a cast of award-winning actors, singers and writers, including Angeline Ball, Patrick Bergin, Niall Buggy, Bob Geldof and Bernard O’Donoghue. Devised and directed by Shevaun Wilder.
http://www.corrigansmayfair.co.uk/product/poets-evening/
£50.00