Stoke Newington Literary Festival: from Will Self and Yasmin Alibhai-Brown to a Game of Thrones pub quiz

The sixth Stoke Newington Literary Festival is set to take place this weekend.

The festival, which is run by a non-profit organisation, will be held from June 5-7 in venues dotted around the Stoke Newington area.

Here, we pick out some of the highlights across three days of guest speakers, book readings, quizzes and workshops.

Kicking off proceedings is Melanie McGrath, the leading crime writer, who will be talking to Dr Shubulade Smith, consultant psychiatrist and head of the forensic psychiatric intensive care unit at Bethlem Royal Hospital. They will talk about the relation between violence and evil.

Later in the day, writer Yasmin Alibhai Brown will be at William Patten School, discussing her latest book, Exotic England, and the themes of nationalism and multiculturalism that run through it. At the same time, but at Library Gallery, comedian and author Viv Groskop will perform her new stand-up routine.

And for fans of Game of Thrones – both in TV and book form – there’s a pub quiz on just that at The Prince.

On Saturday, explore food and drink’s numerous connections with literature. Food writer Diana Henry will be reflecting on her career with Julia Leonard and sampling some of her best recipes at St Paul’s Church Hall.

Later on at the same venue, the intertwining history of London, gin and the Georgians will be revealed – and a free cocktail will be included in the ticket price. And food writer Mark Diacono will be talking to Alice Holden about his mission to get people growing their own grub – you can catch him talking again to Julia Leonard on Sunday. Elsewhere, two prominent feminist voices, activist and journalist Caroline Criado-Perez and author Fay Weldon, will be holding separate talks.

On the last day of the festival, political economist and writer Will Hutton will be in discussion with journalist and author Owen Jones at Town Hall. They’ll talk about five more years of Tory government and what should be done about it. Following them, Will Self will bring his diverse cultural commentary and discuss his 11th novel, Shark.

Diversity in publishing will be on the agenda at the Abney Hall as authors, publishers and marketers discuss what effects the range of books on sale and how this impacts upon readers.

Visit stokenewingtonliteraryfestival.com for more information.

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