I was thrilled to have another crack at the Wheeler Centre’s fine canapés on Friday night. But their splendour was overtaken by…
…the spectacle of Jennifer Byrne’s toned arms. Sparkling wine was flowing, heads were balding, editors were stumbling, heads were talking. Sorry, no pictures of the delicious morsels this time – I cleaned the Centre right out. Then on to the naffly titled World of Wine, a bar whose acronym is both subtle and deep, where Toni Jordan drank utterly the most giant gin and tonic I have ever seen. However, mine was normal sized. Clearly discrimination against people who haven’t written a very popular novel.
So, it’s two for two, and I’m rather excited to visit the Centre again tonight for the first Debut Mondays event. It features Sofie Laguna, Madeleine Hamilton, Andrew McDonald and Bob Franklin – whose Under Stones I am currently reading and enjoying very much – reading from their debut books.
Lots of the events have already ‘sold out’ (in inverted commas because most everything is free), so don’t forget to book, etc. I’ve already dropped the ball on the Gala Night and the first Meanland event (the next is Reading in a Time of Technology), so I’ll be ahead of the game for when sweetest of playwrights Lally Katz makes a writer’s mixtape on 23 February and Waleed Aly discusses the future of conservatism on 22 March. See you there.
