Head South this spring

Oh to be in England...when the Southbank Centre's Literature and Spoken Word Festival is on. This year's cornucopia of global talent runs from April 6 right through to June 8 and there are riches for every literary palate.

You can access details of all events from the South Bank website, but among the highlights (as far as we're concerned--and feel free to disagree via the usual email address or across the counter) are Jeanette Winterson, Ali Smith, Kamila Shamsie and others who will be joining forces with Liberty on 6 April for an evening of newly commissioned writing; Philip Pullman on 12 April discussing his radical new project retelling the life of Christ in his The Good Man Jesus And The Scoundrel Christ;the incomparable Gil Scott-Heron, one of music's first and last remaining true revolutionary spirits, in conversation with Canongate's Jamie Byng on 19 April; Goal! Match! Victory! Freedom on 21 April at which eight of South Africa's most exciting young authors get off the bench and kick ideas around in the run up to the World Cup; poet Simon Armitage reading from his latest collection, Seeing Stars, on 14 May and on 7 and 8 June the Orange Prize at 15 and Shortlist Readings respectively.

Check the South Bank website, www.southbankcentre.co.uk for full listings, booking details etc.

On yer bike...

Our yummy chums and neighbours at the Wet Fish Cafe are at it again! This time they're organising an event in support of our v fabulous local cultural hotspot, the Tricycle Theatre so you can fill your face and feel worthy at the same time--and, with food like the WFC's, it doesn't get much better than that.

This is an advance ticket deal, the date is 12 April between 7 and 10.30 and it'll cost you is £29 per person (£24 grub and a fiver to the Tric). There will be, we are reliably informed, 3 show stopping courses plus a little entertainment surprise.

The last WFC event sold out in a nano second (well 48 hours actually) so if this whets your appetite, don't delay.

We'll be working that night, serving piping hot books to our lovely customers, but we're very definitely up for a carry-out chaps!

Why the future's bright for Rosie Alison

It is said that the British love an underdog, but that's not the only reason why I can't help warming to Rosie Alison, who, it would seem, is the only Orange Prize longlisted author not to have yet been reviewed by a single national newspaper, despite some spirited write ups by the many of us citizen journos who've bought the book and loved it.

Alison is handling this lack of PR pizzazz for her novel, The Very Thought Of You, with admirable dignity too, telling the Guardian that she is 'quietly delighted' by the lack of fanfare so far, preferring to build slowly (just as well really) than to recieve a massive buzz that might fizzle out quickly.

The Very Thought Of You is the story of a young girl torn from her family and relocated to a large Yorkshire estate during the Government's wartime evacuee programme. It's a novel of yearning, loss and mixed loyalties, combining a sweeping narrative with subtle pyschological observational that has prompted comparisons with the saintly Ian McEwan among others--what's not to love?

Meanwhile, with slightly less of the appropriately dignified spirit, Orange judge Daisy Goodwin has been bemoaning the Herculean task of ploughing through the 129 submitted novels to arrive at this year's longlist. Apparently it was something of a grimfest for Ms Goodwin, who, call us meanies, but we think might like to move over and let someone else on the panel if it's such a 'despair'.

Among the other longlisters are inevitably the Booker big hitters Misses Mantel and Waters for their superb novels Wolf Hall and The Little Stranger respectively plus Kathryn Stockett/The Help; Attica Locke/Black Water Rising; Nadifa Mohamed/Black Mamba Boy; Monique Roffey/The Woman On a Green Bicycle; Lorrie Moore/A Gate At The Stairs; Amy Sackville/Still Point; Eleanor Catton/The Rehearsal; Laila Lalami/Secret Son; Andrea Levy/Song; Sadie Jones/Small Wars; Barbara Kingsolver/The Lacuna; Clare Clark/Savage Lands; Amanda Craig/Hearts and Minds; Roopa Farooki/The Way Things Look; Rebecca Gowers/The Twisted Heart; MJ Myland/This Is How and Maria MCann/The Wilding.

All good dreamers: pass this way

Local author Nomi Sharron reckons she may have come up with the perfect antidote to many 21st century malaises in her new book, Tony Samara: A Modern Shaman.

Sharron has written her book for those on that eternal quest for happiness and a purpose in life. Although these are fundamental issues, Sharron believes that her book also addresses our current concerns of the environment, the ongoing threat of war and terrorism, the repercussions of technology and dysfunctional relationships.

She describes the book as a two-in-one study: combining the journies and teachings of initiated shaman Tony Samara and also a what-to-do guide because, as she says, 'Many people say that they want to become more spiritual, but don't know how to. This book shows us how we can manifest our dreams, and gives us the practical tools.'

Left by the Romans, captured by McCullin

My obsession with our gorgeous gift books here at West End Lane Books continues and is teetering on the cusp of the clinical.

The latest tome I'm hankering after is Southern Frontiers, A Journey Across the Roman Empire, a fabulous photographic paean to the glory of Rome by the uber-lensman Don McCullin.

Once opened, it's hard to put down again, the majesty of the landscapes matched by McCullin's superb monochrome images.

Shot over the course of several years, Southern Frontiers kicks off in the Levant before moving over to the great ruins of North Africa and McCullin, famed of course as a recorder of conflict, observes in his introduction that what delights him is not simply brilliant light on marble, but the gathering clouds in darkened skies; he notes that as he recorded the stone he was aware of the scale of the labour, the tyranny and slavery that enabled such massive construction as well as the inherent beauty of the architecture.

The historical background to each site is provided by Barnaby Rogerson, a noted traveller and authority on Roman sites.

Those who are particularly interested in the less well trodden Roman paths can gen up on Leptis Magna and much more at the definitive destination for all matters Libyan at www.libyabooks.com.

Cashing in on Martin

Love him or hate him (I can't help l-o-v-i-n-g him!), it's hard to avoid Martin Amis right now, what with his new return-to-form novel, The Pregnant Widow, just out and a brand new adaptation of his 80s treatise on excess, Money, about to hit the small screen in April.

Mad Men slimeball Pete Campbell (in real life the rather affable thesp Vincent Kartheiser) plays the part of the duplicitous Fielding Goodney who tempts hero John Self into a Faustian pact with the American movie lifestyle and much chaos ensues.

If you haven't yet caught up with either the new Amis or Money , you will, of course, find both nestling on the shelves at West End Lane Books, and very fine they are too.

Money is on BBC 2 this April.

A taste of Brazil

Fancy a Brazilian? No, we don't mean highly skilled footballers or...er...intimate grooming. The flavour of Brazil is hitting West End Lane on March 15th when our friends at the fabulous Wet Fish Cafe are hosting a Brazilian Night, with live samba music to groove along to while you feast on the finest South American grub.

Soul-samba artist Adrianos Trinidade will be supplying the sounds from 7pm onwards while the Cafe's Brazilian co-Head Chef will be whipping up a frenzy in the kitchen...just the thing for a Monday evening--post-book browsing at West End Lane Books, of course!

Tickets, which include starter, main and entertainment, cost £25 per head and you'll need to book in advance.