Wednesday 1 September 2010

Book Event at Foyles London

We are delighted to be alerted to a very interesting series of book events, featuring rare appearances by P D James and Philip Kerr among many other top class authors, so you should mark your diaries accordingly for Saturday 11 September and Sunday 12 September

INDIE ALLIANCE WEEKEND
Brought to you by the Independent Alliance - with P D James, Geoff Dyer, Emily Woof, Philip Kerr & many more…

It may sound like something from Star Wars, but really the Independent Alliance is a network of independent publishers, joined together to ensure their extraordinarily diverse output reaches the widest audience possible. Publishing everything from internationally best-selling crime-writers, to Booker Prize winners, to those undiscovered gems only an independent house can unearth, this weekend they bring to Foyles a vast array of authors for two full days of literary events - including discussions on counterculture and how to write non-fiction, and speed-dating Indie-style. Join us for one or both days, as we celebrate independence in all its forms.

Progamme Saturday, 11 September 11am – 7pm

11am: Publishing Indie in a Digital Marketplace
Hannah Griffiths (Faber), Dan Franklin (Canongate) and Jonathan Ruppin from Foyles
What does it mean to be an independent publisher (and bookshop) in the era of e-books and Amazon? Are indies actually better placed to capture the digital market than their larger counterparts? Griffiths, Franklin and Ruppin discuss in our first panel of the day.

12.15pm-1pm: Crossing the Divide
Mick Jackson (Faber), Emma Craigie (Short Books), Amanda Smyth (Serpent’s Tail), & Margaret Elphinstone (Canongate)
Creative writing courses often teach us to ‘write what you know.’ But what about those authors who write the exact opposite? This panel examines the plusses and perils of writing from a dramatically different perspective.

1pm – 2pm: Break

2pm – 3.15pm: Crime Time
PD James (Faber), Philip Kerr (Quercus), Adam Creed (Faber), & Elizabeth Wilson (Serpent’s Tail)
The popularity of crime novels never seems to wane, but what is it really that captivates us so about crime? Is there a winning formula for the ultimate whodunit, or is any setting, any character ripe for murder and intrigue? Our three distinguished crime writers discuss.

3.45pm – 4.45pm: Counterculture
Barry Miles (Atlantic), Paul Willetts (Serpent’s Tail), Rob Chapman (Faber), & Max Schaefer (Granta)
A writer’s role is to take us to other worlds, but it’s something else altogether when those worlds involve the realities of seedy Soho, rock and roll binges or British neo-Nazis. Our panellists discuss what it means to enter these unfriendly underworlds.

Progamme Sunday, 12 September 11am – 6pm

11am – 12pm: Speed-authoring Brunch
Max Schaefer (Granta), Alex Preston (Faber), Jean Baggott (Icon), Aifric Campbell (Serpent’s Tail)
Speed-dating is painful. Speed-authoring is not. 4 tables, 4 authors, 15 minutes each. Start the day over coffee with some of the alliance’s star writers.
This event is reserved separately and has limited capacity – please email events@foyles.co.uk to reserve a place.

12.30pm – 1.15pm: History Girls
Helen Castor & Lucy Worsley (Faber), Lisa Hilton (Atlantic), Kitty Ferguson (Icon), Rachel Hewitt (Granta)
We wouldn’t dream of naming names, but there seem to be a lot of men writing about history these days. Just to balance the scales (and then some), we bring you the history girls.

1.45-2.30: Me, Me, Me
Rupert Thomson (Granta) & Jean Baggott (Icon) & Chris Mullin tbc (Serpent’s Tail)
Flannery O’Connor once said that any one who survived childhood has enough material to write about for the rest of their days. But surely it isn’t all fodder for memoir. Our panellists look at what of our lives can be transferred to the page and what, if anything, is best left unwritten.

2.30-3.30 – BREAK

3.30 – 4.15pm – Debuts
Anne Peile (Serpent’s Tail), Emily Woof (Faber), Deborah Kay Davies (Canongate), Alice de Smith (Atlantic) & Laura Barton (Quercus)
The position of the first-time novelist is arguably unenviable. These debuts go through the ups and downs of getting your first book into print.

4.45 – 5.30: How to Write Non-fiction
Geoff Dyer (Canongate), Andrea Gillies (Short), Colin Evans (Icon), and Joe Moran (Profile)
Whether it’s a historic locale or a mother without memory, a truly gruesome crime or the banalities of daily existence, these authors have chronicled real life in unbelievable ways.

Tickets: £15 one day / £25 both days, available on http://www.foyles.co.uk/
The Gallery at Foyles

Photo (c) 2009 Ali Karim -
Mike Stotter, Janet Laurence and Ali Karim celebrate Philip Kerr's CWA Ellis Peters Award

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