A friend of mine, Anjan Saha, runs a music and literature event called The Literature Lounge. It happens every month at the Poetry Cafe in Covent Garden and is an exciting mix of poetry, prose, incense, live music, incense, red lighting, Indian sweets, incense, drumming, dancing, incense and an open mic.

The open mic is usually the cause of most of the excitement – although inhaling the incense can occasionally lead to an interesting patchouli-based high.

In the time I have been co-hosting at the Literature Lounge I have witnessed everything from drunken rants against Bryan Ferry to spontaneous verse about marriage break-ups to Amercian beat poets still a-trippin’ on the open mic – you just never know what to expect.

Last Thursday was no exception.

In the space of two hours in our smoke-filled basement we had a moon walking tribute to MJ, poems about the womb, old people and cancer. Tabla playing, a short story entitled, ‘Alien Action in Acton’ and, oh yes, a bit of bumping and grinding on the dance floor – see below:

I also read the first chapter from the thriller I’m currently working on. It was the first time I’d read anything with such a dark subject matter at a public event so I was a little apprehensive about how it would go down. But the response I got was amazing and it’s really fired me up for finishing the novel. (I had reached the dreaded half way point where I know a lot of novelists can become gripped by doubt – is the plot working? Are the characters strong enough? Have I got the stamina for another 150 pages etc, etc.) Having people come up to me after begging me to tell them what happens next and showing real interest in the characters and plot was a great shot in the arm for my confidence.

Which kind of compensates for the last time I co-hosted a Literature Lounge and Anjan cohersed me into a god-awful jam session with the musicians at the end. The musicians, being musicians, all obviously had some kind of in-built rhythm section and played along spontaneously and perfectly in time, whilst Anjan rapped about words and music and then, to my mortification, passed me a mic. I was like the Tory MP John Redwood that time he had to pretend to know the Welsh National Anthem and was filmed miming and clapping along like a sea lion.

Yes, you never know what to expect at the Literature Lounge!

If you would like more information about the Literature Lounge and our upcoming events, please pop me a message via my mailbox.