British Library Literary Events

Some dates for your diaries -
25 October: Lisa Picard talks about her new book, Victorian London: the life of a city
30 November: Alexander McCall Smith on how literary characters come into existence (sometimes uninvited)
And in a series entitled The Classic Book, a panel of literary critics, academics and writers discuss Moby Dick (18 October), Tristram Shandy (7 November) and Beloved (14 December).
In a series on Modern American Poets, you can hear readings of T S Eliot (19 October) and Robert Frost (21 November)
Finally, the Writers in Conversation series features Madhur Jaffrey (10 October) and Arnold Wesker (29 November)

For more information about all of these events and many more, along with ticket prices and booking details, visit www.bl.uk

More South Bank Literary Events

The South Bank literature & talks season continues with Chinua Achebe and Caryl Phillips (October 4), Bret Easton Ellis (October 10), John McGahern (October 11), and on October 22 a season of talks on travel writing kicks off with John Banville, Patrick McGrath & Matthias Muller.Tickets are £8.50 and £9 and can be booked online at www.rfh.org.uk

Guardian Children's Book Prize

The shortlist has been announced: The Merrybegot by Julie Hearn, The Boy in the Burning House by Tim Wynne-Jones, The Hunted by Alex Shearer, The New Policeman by Kate Thompson. The winner of the prize will be announced on October 1. [report]

Michael Morpurgo event at British Library

In one of the last Hans Christian Andersen bicentenary events at the British Library, Michael Morpurgo is will be talking on "Stories? Who needs them? Andersen to Wilde to Morpurgo" in the Conference Centre on 21 September. [Full programme & booking details]

Blackwell's Literary Events

Go to www.blackwell.co.uk to find out about a series of London events in which you can meet some of your favourite authors (!): Chris Patten (27 Sept), Jamie Oliver (12 Oct), Stephen Fry (25 October) and Neil Gaiman (8 November). Tickets are £2 and the events are being held at 7pm at different venues in Bloomsbury.

Guardian Book Club

John Mullan, Professor of English at UCL, will be discussing Flaubert's Parrot with Julian Barnes on Monday October 3 in the Newsroom, 60 Farringdon Road at 6:30. To book call 020 7886 9281 or email bookclub@guardian.co.uk. Mullan's weekly column in The Guardian provides a service to reading groups by discussing a novel over a 4-week period - as he says, "you do not necessarily know what you think of a book until you have heard what others think". You can record your views at guardian.co.uk/books.

Literary Festival at Cheltenham

The Times Cheltenham Literature Festival is from 7-16 October, with an amazing list of speakers from Maya Angelou to Alice Walker. It includes former Booker Prize winners Alan Hollinghurst and Salman Rushdie, 2005 nominiee Zadie Smith and a host of other big names. For a brochure ring 01242 237377. Prices for events range from £3 to £12, with lots of free events too.

Booker Prize Shortlist

The Man Booker Prize shortlist was announced today. Former winners Ian McEwan, Salman Rushdie and JM Coetzee were absent from the list. The shortlisted authors are: John Banville, Julian Barnes, Sebastian Barry, Kazuo Ishiguro, Ali Smith and Zadie Smith. [Press Release] BBC report. The Guardian has a blog where you can say what you think of the shortlist.

AT LAST!

I'm pleased to see that someone has finally contributed to the blog with his comment on Sebastian Faulks, below. I have now removed the restrictions so that anyone can add a comment to an existing post - although if you want to write a new one you will have to be a member of the team. It's easy enough, just email library@dulwich.org.uk and an invitation will be sent to you. And thank you to the anonymous Simon for getting the ball rolling.

Sebastian Faulks

... will be reading from and answering questions about his new novel, Human Traces, at 7pm at Waterstone's Piccadilly on Wednesday September 7th. This will be followed by a book signing.