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Literary events in London by @t.e.macspaunday

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Not done this since Yoel’s book but wow oh boy do I love this book by @cnnorthall. It is one of the best books I have read in ages and I have read a lot of very good stuff of late (shout out to Climbers by Harrison). I know zilch about zen so it was great to learn about it. I do know a bit about getting wasted then feeling bad about it and these parts of the book had a heady truth to them, which, in turn, gave the whole that feeling.

Northall says she likes spare prose and as a Hemingway-head so do I, and the book has a lot of it and it is very good. The writing does this thing with cliche where worn phrases become new in a cradling of original prose and ironical poise. There is a smart use of “very” throughout, and a measured use of adverbs - so much so that when there is one, it jolts you.

She does clever things with metaphors, which are dawn-like and cold-watery and exciting in their freshness - shooting up “hanging on the edge of a hit, I was like a lion clamped around a jugular”; “a crustacean strata of purple scar tissue”; a man swoops in “like a special forces bat”; there is a cute lil “chiclet of sugar-free gum”; a Slavic man has “boreal blue eyes” - and this kind of precision is rare these days.

There is a strong balance of materiality and the transcendental; the fake transcendence of getting high, and then the ways we can access something bigger than us that can make us more whole. It never lets you get too woo woo with it though, and reminds you that material life determines the character of the social, political, and spiritual processes of life. Its thinking follows good ol’ Marx in knowing that it is not consciousness that determines existence, but social existence that determines one’s consciousness. It is dialectical!!!

For once the cover copy doesn’t lie - the book does address how to treat ‘”the sickness of self” from which we all increasingly suffer.’

It teaches you that you can feel and be good, you just have to work at it. You’ve gotta think of others. Others are salvation. And maybe writing is too. And writing is for others.

You can pick it up from @pilotpresslondon.

Call me TLS, Literary Review, LRB. I never hear from you. by @sohoreadingseries

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18 days ago

Overjoyed to be hosting a creative writing workshop and readings at @aesop Seven Dials on Tuesday September 29th, in celebration of Aesop’s Fragrant Fables campaign.

Throughout the day, three writers will lead free, intimate drop-in sessions, where you can explore the theme of “Scent and Memory” on the page. At the end of each hour-long session, you’ll also get the opportunity to share what you’ve written at a reading in the space.

Come along to experience Aesop’s scents, and write your own Fragrant Fable. by @sohoreadingseries

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19 days ago

Soho Reading Series is back with an all-star line up of writers at the 100 Club on October 9th. Join us for a big night of readings from books about comic chaos and fraud in Mexico, addiction and zen, kittens, Martin Amis, and much more. Get some drinks and back into the literary life. Tix in bio. xo by @sohoreadingseries

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21 days ago

lit fest day 3 @elliesbar_ #avibe by @sohoreadingseries

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a month ago

Launch party for the show. Come and celebrate with us and the world’s best writers at Saatchi Yates, where we shot it. £3 tickets so we can buy like a lot a lot of pizzas as we spent all our money making this thing. Speeches will be short and self-deprecating. Limited tickets, so get yours now from the link in bio. It’ll be a blast. by @sohoreadingseries

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a month ago

day two of the lit fest at the RL - photos by @amberpollackphotography by @sohoreadingseries

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a month ago

On Hydra this week.

Two literary events with Chloe Aridjis, Teju Cole, Chris Power, and Ellena Savage.

Organised by Alexander in support of its forthcoming fiction list. by @sohoreadingseries

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a month ago

photos of lit fest day one and the launch of Ben Pester’s Sail Away Land by @amberpollackphotography by @sohoreadingseries

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a month ago

Soho Reading Series is very generously throwing a reading for Paradiso 17 next Wednesday at Ellie’s bar in London. So grateful to @t.e.macspaunday and to @sasanchezs for hosting. With @octavia.bright, @matthewjholman, @sufiyaansalam & Henry Woodland. First come first served. ❤️🌹 by @sohoreadingseries

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2 months ago

The talk show is in the world’s most important publication, @emilysundberg’s @read.feedme.

“Tom Willis, the founder of Soho Reading Series, is starting a talk show called The Tom Willis Talk Show. Willis, a London-based writer and PhD, told The Guardian last year that Soho Reading Series was “inspired by the cultural heyday of Soho in the 80s and 90s, an era when writers and literary types coalesced in the boozy backrooms of private members’ clubs.” Everything else I’ve read about his series seems to be quite focused on a London lit “scene” that I don’t know much about, but The Observer called Willis “the man making books sexy again.” Big job. This morning, I saw Willis post film photos teasing a new talk show called Tom Willis Talk Show. I DM’d him to find out more.”

Read the full piece in the latest Feed Me. by @sohoreadingseries

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2 months ago

literary talkshow coming September 29 2026 by @sohoreadingseries

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2 months ago

Thrilled to be Gen Z in today’s FT because it is a very good paper and I love print media as it feels real and proper and it is a lovely write up (thanks @valeberghinz) and I don’t sound too bananas in the quotes! Huzzah! #genz by @sohoreadingseries

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2 months ago