What’s Going On (UK)

May 24, 2.30 p.m.
London, ICA
Herr K Arrested
‘Someone must have been telling lies about Josef K. He knew he had done nothing wrong but, one morning, he was arrested.’ A new dramatization of Franz Kafka’s The Trial.
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May 2, 7.00 p.m.
London, ICA
Daniel Kalder: The Anti-tourist’s Guide to Siberia
‘Anti-tourist’ and author of cult hit Lost Cosmonaut Daniel Kalder reports on his latest expedition into the planet’s dark side – an epic voyage to the heart of Siberia, where he lived among the 4,000 followers of Vissarion Christ, all of whom are calmly awaiting the apocalypse at the foot of a holy mountain.
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May 8, 7.45 p.m.
London, Southbank Centre
China Now: Ma Jian
Ma Jian is one of China's foremost dissident writers. Here he discusses his new novel, Beijing Coma, in which he addresses the Tiananmen Square massacre head-on.
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May 14, 7.45 p.m.
London, Southbank Centre
Elizabeth Pisani with Polly Clayden, Corinne Squire and Ben Goldacre
In The Wisdom of Whores, Elizabeth Pisani argues that politics, ideology and money have bulldozed through scientific evidence and common sense in the ‘AIDS industry’. She is joined in discussion by Polly Clayden, co-director of HIV i-base and pioneer of treatment literacy writing, and Corinne Squire, psychologist and author of HIV in South Africa. The event is chaired by Ben Goldacre.
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May 17, 3.00 p.m.
London, ICA
Art Writing Beyond Criticism
In the light of recent debates addressing the so-called crisis of criticality and criticism, this event examines the problems of contemporary art criticism and alternatives to standardized forms of professional art writing.
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May 20, 7.30 p.m.
London, Southbank Centre
Peter Dews, Mark Kurlansky, Ernesto Laclau, Jacqueline Rose and Goran Therborn
Leading thinkers discuss the history and future of radical thought at this centrepiece event in the literature series All Power to the Imagination.
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May 16 – 25
Charleston, Lewes
Charleston Literary Festival
Set in the country home of the Bloomsbury artists Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell, this annual festival brings international writers and thinkers to the Sussex countryside. Appearing in 2007 were William Dalrymple, Alain de Botton, Kiran Desai, Michael Frayn, Clive James, Andrew Motion, Claire Tomalin, Edward St Aubyn and Graham Swift.
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May
Bradford, Bradford Central Library
Bradford Book Festival
Last year's highlights included Poetry Please presenter Roger McGough, Gervase Phinn, Deric Longden, Yorkshire TV’s Ian Clayton and Malika Booker.
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May 5 – 18
Swindon
Swindon Festival of Literature
Talks, readings, and question and answer sessions with authors, performers, and poets; plus writing workshops, discussions, storytelling, and a ‘Performance Poetry Slam Competition’.
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May 9 – 11
Aberdeen, University of Aberdeen
Word: University of Aberdeen Writers Festival
Word attracts over fifty authors for a weekend of readings, lectures, debates, music, art exhibitions and film screenings.
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May 9 – 18
Lincoln
Lincoln Book Festival
The fifth Lincoln Book Festival will be a celebration of local, national and international writers and artists.
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May 22 – June 1
Hay-on-Wye
The Guardian Hay Festival
2008 sees the twenty-first anniversary of one of the largest literary festivals in the UK. Past programme events and performances have crossed literature with cabaret, cinema, circus, comedy, environment, film, music, politics, science, screenwriting and visual arts.
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