Amy Broomfield checks out this month’s west London literature meet-up featuring poet Luke Wright, novelist David Nicholls, musician Lettie, skinny jeans, teenage angst and odes to one night stands.

Luke Wright is a poet from what he calls the ironically named Braintree. He represents a new generation of poets that deliver animated poetry in rhythmic form. Words spill from his mouth with speedy articulation, each sentence a quicksmart delivery of comedy creating a picture or splice of life. With lines like “Just like a teenage boy I couldn’t last”, he tells coming of age tales and moments of social awkwardness that I’m sure every audience member could relate to. In his ode to skinny jeans, he describes trying out a pair in hopes it would make him look cool but instead ended up looking like “an apple balancing on a pair of compasses”, this type of hilarity remains throughout and with his wit and charm he keeps us captivated.

When I read that a poet was performing at this month’s Book Slam, my mind immediately recalled miserable university lectures where I sat trying to decipher 19th century poetry composed by some sort of half-moon bespectacled obsessive. Thankfully, Luke’s poems showed me there is so much more to poetry than that. Dubbed by The Observer as “one of our best young poets”, it is easy to see why he deserves critical acclaim as he reels off his lyricisms. He also makes a decent compere in place of regular host and founder, Patrick Neate.

Book Slam is a literary event that takes place monthly. To call it a ‘book club’ would pigeon-hole the event into a chintzy living room amidst snobbery and copies of Pride & Prejudice so I’d liken it more to an open-mike night except those on stage are esteemed or up and coming writers, poets and singer/songwriters carefully selected for the evening by Patrick Neate. Book Slam is Neate’s baby. A published writer and winner of 2001 Whitbread Award for his novel Twelve Bar Blues, he is passionate about celebrating literature and music. The night has a distinct friendly US-jazz bar feel with its dim lighting, modest stage and circular tables but instead of jazz, a DJ plays a varied set of R&B and hip hop tunes between each act. Previous acts have included modern British writers such as Zadie Smith, Dave Eggers, Nick Hornby and Hanif Kureishi and singers Kate Nash and Adele. It has also been dubbed by Time Out and The Metro as one of the must-dos on London’s cultural scene.

Teenage and early adulthood angst seemed to be the theme at this month’s event with the next performance by Starter for Ten author, David Nicholls. Nicholls’ humour is natural as is his ability to relate to and portray social awkwardness; he comes onto the stage deliberating if should have a beer in his hand and how it would look, but concludes it should be carefully placed on the stage in front of him. Today he reads an excerpt from One Day, a comical but bittersweet love story based on two characters, Emma and Dexter who meet on St Swithun’s Day. The next day they go their separate ways but continue to meet on the same day every year for the next twenty two years. In Nicholls’ excerpt, Emma and Dexter wake after the first one night stand and the ‘morning after awkwardness’ is captured beautifully with the woes and worries after a one night stand, the analysing of faces, the battling with subconscious thoughts and the constant saying of the wrong thing.

Lettie was the live music treat this month with her retro accoustic sounds and keyboard and her breathy voice; making for a lovely end to the evening.

When:
Last Thursday of every month

Where:
The Tabernacle
Powis Square
London
W11 2AY

How Much:
£6 in advance/£8 on the door