Tomorrow (Monday) afternoon tickets will be offered for the forthcoming Literary Festival at the London School of Economics (LSE) near The Strand.

Some of the talks look rather good and the full list is below – book tickets via the website links from 2pm on Mon 25th.

All the talks are on Saturday 13th Feb.

I am personally rather tempted by the debate on Jekyll & Hyde and the one on Reading London, with Dan “Gosh! Golly!” Cruickshank.

1. How to write a novel- an introduction for beginners 10-11am
   • Does the task of writing a novel both excite and daunt you? Using the political novel as an example, this workshop will examine how to progress from initial ideas to a successful draft.
   • Speaker: Justine Mann
2. War Stories: How to bring the battle to the book? 10.30am-12pm
   • A discussion of war journalism in its historical context. How the great correspondents of the past managed to tell the world about conflicts around the globe. And how in the digital age, governments and the military seek to prevent free reporting of war. Can we ever really report objectively and openly on war?
   • Speaker: Stephen Grey, Sam Kiley, Ros Wynne-Jones
3. Jekyll & Hyde: Law, Science, Psychology 11am-12.30pm
   • This panel discussion brings together legal academics, psychoanalytical theorists and specialists in nineteenth-century literature in a conversation focused on the historical and cultural significance themes in the novel.
   • Speaker: Professor Mary Evans, Professor Nicola Lacey, Robert Mighall, Professor Juliet Mitchell
4. Researching and Writing a Political Novel 11am-12pm
   • This session will focus on some of the challenges encountered when creating a fictional narrative from a contemporary political issue.
   • Speaker: Christie Watson
5. A Q&A Session with Patrick Mercer MP 12-1pm
   • A session with former soldier and BBC radio defence correspondent – now Conservative MP.
   • Speaker: Justine Mann
6. Literature and the Sciences: Where do they meet? 12.30-2pm
   • Three poets discuss the interrelationship between art and literature and the social sciences.
   • Speaker: Michael Blackburn, Mario Petrucci, Richard Tyrone-Jones
7. Reading London 1-2.30pm
   • How do we attempt to understand the sprawling “modern Babylon” that is London, with its layers of social, political and cultural history? Can art, architecture and literature help us to ‘read’ this complex city?
   • Speaker: Professor Rosemary Ashton, Dan Cruickshank, Leo Hollis, Hans Ulrich Obrist
8. The Arts of Illness 2.30-4pm
   • Consciousness of our own mortality is at the heart of the human experience, and has long fascinated writers and artists, inspiring quite an obsession with the body and its well-being. This panel will examine the relationship between creativity, illness and the imagination.
   • Speaker: Dr Jane Darcy, Brian Dillon, Sally O Reilly
9. Sociology as Literature 3-4.30pm
   • Richard Sennett’s award winning Sociology of Literature explores the role of narrative in social research and in writing sociology.
   • Speaker: Professor Richard Sennett
10. So Much for That: on illness, death and money 4.30-6pm
    • Lionel Shriver will be discussing and reading from her new novel So Much for That on the cusp of release in March.
    • Speaker: Lionel Shriver
11. Theatre of Action? 5-6.30pm
    • A discussion between a playwright and director on whether contemporary drama still aims to challenge audiences will be followed by a performance of extracts from ‘reactionary’ drama by the LSESU Drama Society.
    • Speaker: John Caird, Matt Charman
12. Animating a Myth for our times: The Lawsuit of the Animals against Humanity 6.30-8pm
    • An event that combines a story-telling of the 1000-year-old eco-fable The Animals’ Lawsuit against Humanity with a panel discussion on the story’s historical and literary origins; current biodiversity in the midst of species extinction; the philosophical relationship between humans; and animals and the need for a myth for our times.
    • Speaker: Zeina Frangie-Eyres, Dr Simon Glendinning, Professor Marina Warner, Mark Wright
13. Speaking of Love 7-8.30pm
    • Four very different writers consider four very different aspects of love: love as enchantment, and love as madness; passion in youth, and compassion in age.
    • Speaker: AS Byatt, Ben Okri, Helen Simpson, Colin Thubron

Been a busy few days – went to talks this evening and yesterday evening. Considering that I normally work in the evenings, these nights out result in coming home and having to put in an extra hour or two before crashing.

Last night was a long planned wander over to the Post Office Archive for a talk about the infamous Post Office underground railway – more affectionately known as the Mail Rail. There was a showing of a 10 minute video made in 1987 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the railway – and then a talk about the Archive’s curator.

To be honest, he didn’t really say a lot I didn’t already know – but it was good to have a refresher course to remind me of what I knew.

However – he mentioned a report compiled in 1911 to promote the railway and it went into a lot of detail about the earlier pneumatic based post office railway. I didn’t know about that document and shall have to wander back to the Archive centre to have a read as it could be quite helpful for my own researches.

This evening though – I wandered along to the LSE in Holborn for an "in conversation" type talk with Cherie Blair, wife of our former Prime Minister. Cherie Blair is undeniably one of those people who elicit very strong reactions in most people. I certainly veer towards the "heads in hands in despair" opinion about her time when in 10 Downing St., but I have a lot of respect for her work as a lawyer and human rights campaigner.

Incidentally, I go to so many events where I am often one of the youngest people in the room, but this evening I was in a room where probably two-thirds of the people were younger than myself. Makes a change!

The first two thirds of the evening was basically Howard Davies of the LSE in chat with Cherie Blair and talking mainly about her life and anecdotes about being the wife of a national leader. In all, very amusing stuff and worth listening to – along with the odd bit of politics thrown in.

Who the heck voted Tony Blair as gay hunk of the week – although he was apparently quite flattered by the decision!

The final bit was questions from the audience, and we got a bit more human rights discussed, which was a very interesting to hear her views on. There was a book signing event afterwards, but to be honest, I doubt I would read the book if I had brought a copy, the reviews put me off a bit. I also prefer my political books to be by the politicians themselves.

Cherie Blair is one of those people who can command huge prices for public speaking – so it was a rare treat to be able to hear her opinions for free.

Despite some very tempting options, I’m going to try and avoid the lecture circuit tomorrow – I need a night off

Something to put in your diary – as free tickets to a conversation with Cherie Blair will be made available on Monday morning on the LSE website.

One ticket per person can be requested from 10.00am on Monday 24 November on the LSE website.

Cherie Blair is a noted barrister and QC, specialising in human rights law. She is married to Tony Blair, the former Prime Minister. Cherie studied law at LSE and is a governor and honorary fellow of the School. In this event she will talk to Howard Davies, LSE Director about her autobiography published earlier this year entitled Speaking for Myself.

As it is being held at the LSE, hopefully more about law and politics and less about “contraceptive devices”.