[Michael Juster]

I am going to be giving a talk at Kings College on January 26 and I am looking for suggestions for other places in the city where I might be able to lecture, read, or do my ventriloquism act.

[Jayne Osborn]

How long will you be over here, Mike, and what are your fees? Also, can you give more details of your lecture, and its duration? I'm an hour or so out of London so I can't really help you with city venues, but out here in ''the sticks"...maybe...

Jayne

[Michael Juster]

Jayne:

As is standard in academia, the contract calls for the lecture to be "interminable."

Actually, it's just 20 minutes on "Why Aldhelm Matters," then an interactive conversation for 25 minutes about translation and such with Professor Clare Lees. It's part of a regular series of the medievalists at the college. I don't have the details yet about exact time & place.

As for other venues, I'd rather not repeat the lecture and would love to read to a large & adoring audience or two, which is more important to me than economic considerations. I have the new light verse collection out this fall as well as the Aldhelm book, and I am hopeful that the new "serious" (cough, cough...) manuscript will find a home soon.

Mike

[Simon Hunt]

I believe the Poetry Society runs a full-on Poetry Cafe in Covent Garden. I haven't managed to get there myself. Might they be willing to host a reading, anybody know?

[Julie Steiner]

http://poetrysociety.org.uk/poetry-cafe/

I found the promotional copy amusing:

Covent Garden’s most congenial literary joint, The Poetry Café welcomes everyone, not only poets and poetry enthusiasts.

most congenial = tiniest?

everyone = actual paying customers, too?

(They do look like a pretty active place, though. Worth investigating.)

[Ann Drysdale]

They are indeed - the new cafe manager seems like a bright spark. The actual readings take place downstairs in a tatty but congenial room. I've read there and it's OK.

You can also try the Torriano, a real possibility. (You can see from the competition notification that I know whereof I speak)

https://torrianomeetinghouse.wordpress.com/

[Jayne Osborn]

Mike,
You didn't say how long you're here for. What's your last available date?

[Michael Juster]

It's a little fluid for the moment--there are some family issues. My guess is that we will arrive on the 21th and leave on the 28th, but I don't really know yet.

[Simon Hunt]

The Troubadour in Earl's Court used to host a lot of poetry events in its basement. Also, if the word of the circa-1993 manager can be trusted, it's where Bob Dylan played some of his early London gigs and a venue from which Derek Walcott is "permanently banned."

[Ann Drysdale]

The Troubadour readings are on Mondays but they've just posted up their list for the foreseeable future. You could always email info@coffeehousepoetry.org and ask if there's a chance.