Book Slam’s recent move to bigger, better venue Neighbourhood was a sell out success with over 400 people coming down to witness Booker-winner DBC Pierre, rapper Plan B and US slam champion Nafeesa. We return in on January 25th with an equally stellar line up.
Toby Young is the bestselling author of How to Lose Friends and Alienate People about trying (and failing) to take Manhattan and sequel The Sound of No Hands Clapping, about his equally unsuccessful attempt to make it in Hollywood. He is also a playwright and co-founded the Modern Review with Julie Burchill. For more supportive reviews go to www.tobyyoung.co.uk
Echo Sierra is a supremely gifted singer-songwriter and pianist who is seriously about to blow up. In his own words, he mixes “a pinch of life, 2 large tablespoons of authenticity, 1 oz of London smog, a shot of adrenalin, the swagger of an alpha male, a sprinkle of sensitivity and an involuntary tap of the foot to make a sound that will make your ears prick up like cats.” Check him out at www.myspace.com/echoesierramusic and you’ll be hooked.
Winner of Slam Idol and Poetry Idol, Scroobius Pip has made a name for himself with a unique live show combining ‘unspoken word’, hip hop, poetry, jazz and punk which he calls “angsta rap”. He does a great impression of George Bush beatboxing with Justin Timberlake and has a marvelous beard. Catch his performance on www.myspace.com/scroobiuspip
Book Slam was conceived by Patrick Neate and Ben Watt. The idea was simple: to come up with a ‘live literature’ format that was as far removed from the rarefied ‘book reading’ as it was possible to be. Two years on, Book Slam has become a monthly West London staple, always attracting a packed and enthusiastic audience to its eclectic mixture of words and music.
So far, Book Slam has attracted a wide range of storytellers from all disciplines… novelists including DBC Pierre, Nick Hornby, Monica Ali, Hari Kunzru, Zadie Smith, Jonathan Safran-Foer, David Eggars and Jake Arnott; spoken word artists such as US Slam champion Nafeesa, Zena Edwards, Polar Bear and Floetry; musical talent like Adele, Mr Hudson, Plan B, Mike Ladd, Kate Nash, Mpho Skeef and Netsayi, performing alongside featured DJs like Charlie Dark (Blacktronica) and Scratch Professor.
The audience is similarly diverse: the next generation of media players rubbing shoulders with students, street politicos and the intellectually intrigued: it’s an exclusive club where everyone is welcome.
About Patrick Neate
Patrick Neate is the author of four novels (Musungu Jim and the Great Chief Tuloko, Twelve Bar Blues [which won the Whitbread Novel Award], The London Pigeon Wars and City of Tiny Lights) and two books of non-fiction (Where You’re At: Notes from the Frontline of a Hip Hop Planet [winner of the NBCC Award in the USA) and Culture Is Our Weapon: AfroReggae in the Favelas of Rio). He has also written extensively for newspapers, television and cinema and was a key member of Blue Peter’s world record-breaking conga line.
Neighbourhood, 12 Acklam Road , London , W10 5QZ
£5 tickets will be available in advance from www.bookslam.com And on the door
25th January 2007
Doors open 7pm; until late