Sunny Singh in interview

Literary Delights: Saturday 25th June - 1.30-5.30pm
Trinity Church Centre, 15 Nether Street, N12 7NN.

Sunny Singh

We are delighted that Sunny Singh will be joining us on Saturday afternoon to discuss her writing and its influences.

Sunny's debut novel, Nani’s Book Of Suicides, published in 2000, was described as a “first novel of rare scope and power.” The Spanish translation of the novel won the inaugural Mar de Letras prize in 2003. 

Her second book, a work of non-fiction titled Single In The City: The Independent Woman’s Handbook (2001), was a first-of-its-kind exploration of single women in contemporary India and was described as “witty and insightful.” 

Her second novel, With Krishna’s Eyes (2006), has been commended for its “profound insight” and described as “memorable”.

Her latest novel, Hotel Arcadia, is published by Quartet Books and is available from bookshops and e-retailers across UK. Hotel Arcadia has been described as a literary thriller, but Sunny says the inspiration came from the love story of characters in Dante's Inferno. Lindsay Bamfield will be asking Sunny about the novel's journey from inspiration to publication as well as exploring the influences and issues that inform her writing.

Sunny Singh was born in Varanasi, India, and brought up in various Indian cantonment towns, Islamabad in Pakistan and New York City. She studied at Brandeis University (USA), Jawaharlal Nehru University (India), and University of Barcelona (Spain).

She has worked as a journalist and management executive in Mexico, Chile, and South Africa. Currently, she teaches Creative Writing at the London Metropolitan University. She maintains two widely read blogs, one on her personal ruminations on politics, culture and literature, and another on the Arthashastra, the classical Sanskrit political treatise by Chanakya.

Her short stories have been published by prestigious international literary journals including The Drawbridge and World Literature Today.

Her creative non-fiction and academic writing has been published across the world in key journals and anthologies. She also writes for newspapers and magazines, in Spanish and English, across the globe.

This event is one of four in the festival's Literary Delights afternoon.

Literary Delights is a free event but please book.

RSVP

A Trio of Authors

Saturday 25th June.  11.00-12.30pm   
Trinity Church Centre, 15 Nether Street, N12 7NN.

Join us to meet three writers who have really impressed us with their work. Each will read from and talk about her work and then we will open up a panel discussion and will include questions from the audience.

Irenosen Okojie

We are delighted to welcome back Irenoson Okojie who first read for us from her debut novel Butterfly Fish at last year's finale. Irenosen is a writer and Arts Project Manager. She has worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company, Apples & Snakes, The Southbank Centre and The Caine Prize. Her work has been featured in The Observer and The Guardian amongst other publications. Her short stories have been published internationally. She was presented at the London Short Story Festival by Ben Okri as a new dynamic writing talent to watch and was featured in the Evening Standard Magazine as one of London’s most exciting new authors. Her debut novel Butterfly Fish is published by Jacaranda Books and was selected as a WHSmith’s travel promotion. Her new short story collection Speak Gigantular will be published this year.

See more about Irenson here
Twitter: @IrenosenOkojie 

Catriona Ward

Catriona Ward was born in Washington, DC, and grew up in the United States, Kenya, Madagascar, Yemen, and Morocco. She read English at St Edmund Hall, Oxford and has a Masters from the University of East Anglia in Creative Writing. 

Her first novel, Rawblood, was published by Weidenfeld and Nicolson in September 2015, and has been shortlisted for the 62^nd Author’s Club Best First Novel Award. Her second novel will be published by W&N in 2017. Catriona works for the Bianca Jagger Human Rights Foundation and lives in London.

See more about Catriona here.
Twitter: @Catrionaward

Yvvette Edwards

Yvvette Edwards was born in Barnet, but grew up in Hackney and is of Montserratian-British origin. Her debut novel, A Cupboard Full of Coats, was nominated for a number of prestigious literary awards including the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, Writers' Guild Award and the Man Booker prize. Her second novel, The Mother, was published this year. She continues to live in East London with her family.

Read more about Yvvette here.
Twitter: @YvvetteEdwards

All three authors will be signing their books sold by Big Green Bookshop.

The event is free but please book. 
RSVP 

Meet the Author: A.L.Bird at Church End Library.

Friday 24th June. 3.15-4.15pm  Church End Library, 24 Hendon Lane, London N3 1TR.

A.L.Bird

One of FLF's aims is to support and highlight local writers and so we are delighted to welcome A.L. Bird, who lives in Finchley, back to Finchley Literary Festival. She first appeared at our open mic event in 2013.

This year she will be talking about her writing and focusing on her latest novel, The Good Mother, released in April 2016, her major psychological thriller for Carina UK (HarperCollins), the fourth novel she’s written for the imprint.

Her debut novel, Yours is Mine, reached the coveted No. 1 spot in the Amazon Women’s Crime chart. 

Amy divides her time between writing and working as a lawyer.

She has an MA in Creative Writing from Birkbeck, University of London, and is also an alumna of the Faber Academy ‘Writing a Novel’ course, which she studied under Richard Skinner. Amy is a member of the Crime Writers’ Association.

Join us to hear about Amy's work, with plenty of time for questions. No need to book - just turn up. Though you can let us know and
RSVP

For more information see A.L. Bird.
Follow on Twitter @ALBirdwriter

New Voices from the Finchley Literary Festival

Welcome! 

This year Finchley Literary Festival runs from Friday 24th-Sunday 26th June 2016 at various venues. Saturday's main event takes place at Trinity Church Centre, 15 Nether Street, London N12 7NN.

Each year we try to provide something a bit different while including the best of previous years' events. We have an exciting programme for 2016!

Friday 24th June

11-12.30pm:

Memoir Writing Workshop run by Highgate poet and memoirist, Anna Meryt at North Finchley Library, N12 9HP

2.00-3.00pm:

Harry Parker, whose critically acclaimed debut novel about his experiences as a soldier has been written from the viewpoint of inanimate objects, and is a Times top 5 bestseller will be appearing at Church End Library, Finchley Central, N3 1SA.

3.15-4.15pm: 
A.L. Bird, Finchley author, whose new novel, The Good Mother, is a 'grip-lit' psychological thriller and will be appearing at Church End Library, Finchley Central, N3 1SA

6.30-8.30pm:
Josie Pearse, of Pearse and Black will be running an writers' workshop on adapting short stories for the screen at Trinity Church Centre, North Finchley N12 7NN  CANCELLED

7.00-8.30pm:
Finchley author, Allen Ashley will be launching the updated The Planet Suite and will be interviewed by Sandra Unerman, Trinity Church Centre, North Finchley N12 7NN

Saturday 25th June

All events take place at Trinity Church Centre, North Finchley N12 7NN

11am-12.30pm: A Trio of Writers.

Born in Barnet, Booker longlister, Yvvette Edwards, will be discussing her second novel The Mother;

And 'The ghost story is back' (The Guardian), Catriona Ward, whose novel Rawblood, is a classic Gothic tale.

Irenosen Okojie will be discussing her epic tale Butterfly Fish set in London and Benin, and her new collection of short stories Speak Gigantular.

11.30am-12.45pm: Dragon's Pen.

We're pleased that Gilly Stern, Antonia Honeywell, and Cari Rosen, will be running Dragon's Pen. This will be an opportunity for new writers to pitch their work, for instant feedback.

1.30-5.30pm: Literary Delights.

We are thrilled that Joanna Campbell, author and winner of this year's London Short Story Prize, will be the festival's short story judge. The competition was recently launched by Greenacre Writers and Finchley Literary Festival. The winners will be announced at Trinity Church Centre, Sat 25th June at 1.30pm.

Lindsay Bamfield will be interviewing Sunny Singh who, as well as writing three novels, is a university lecturer and is well known for her political, creative non-fiction and academic writing that has been published across the world in key journals and anthologies.

Antonia Honeywell, author of the highly reviewed novel The Ship, and Rosie Canning, whose doctoral research looks at the representation of orphans in fiction, will be discussing this phenomenal subject with readings from classic and contemporary literary texts.

Vaseem Khan, whose debut novel The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra, is a Times top 10 bestseller;

Sunday 26th June

11.00-12.00pm

Katharine Norbury, who wrote the highly acclaimed The Fish Ladder will be appearing at Waterstones, North Finchley N12 8JY.

12.00-4.30pm
Literary walk led by Mike Gee with a lunch stop at Redwood Cafe, Swan Lane Open Space, and tea stop at Finchley Golf Club. Meeting 11.45am outside Waterstones, North Finchley N12 8JY

6.00-8.30pm
Anna Meryt will be organising a Poetry and Music Palooza at Finchley's literary Cafe Buzz, High Road N12 8JY

Stop Press: Delighted to announce that the BIG GREEN BOOKSHOP will be the festival's book sellers.

More about our main FLF sponsors

Squires Estates 

We’re an independent North London estate agent with branches in Finchley, Hendon and Mill Hill. We can help you find your ideal property whether you’re looking to buy or rent, and get you a market-beating price if you’re looking to sell or let.

Since 2004 we’ve built up a reliable pool of serious buyers and a diverse list of properties, all by putting the client firmly at the heart of our business. We work closely with you to understand exactly what you need from your estate agent whether that’s buying, selling, renting, letting or professional property management.

We want to go beyond other estate agents to provide outstanding customer service. Our three connected offices work together to market and sell or let your property, and if you’re house hunting, one of our agents will accompany you to every viewing to make sure any questions you have are answered. If you’re a vendor we’ll contact you every Thursday without fail to give you the latest update and for landlords the update will come every Friday

Whether you’re after houses for sale in Finchley, Hendon or Mill Hill or you need property management services from an independent lettings agent who does things a bit differently we will work hard to help you achieve your goals.

  

The Redwood Café

Nestled within a beautiful, secluded park, the Redwood Café offers the perfect place to take a break from a busy London life. With a strong local community, our family-friendly café has seating that overlooks a well-equipped children’s playground.

Enjoy organic coffee, fair-trade tea, home-made cakes (like your granny used to make), warm meals and sandwiches all served daily. We also have a kids menu, high chairs, baby changing facilities, wheelchair access and a disabled toilet.

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Richard Peters Opticians and Optical Laboratory

Richard Peters Opticians, established in 1981, provides a personal and professional approach to eye care. With an optical laboratory on-site Richard Peters offers a fast and efficient service and a wide range of products.

Fairmount Spa

Fairmount Spa offers a wide range of treatments including facials, hand and foot treatments as well as hair removal. They offer an experience that will relax and rejuvenate the mind, body and soul.

Geeks on wheels 

Geeks on wheels offer, established in 2004, have been providing computer support and training services for both home and business for over twelve years. They have a team of friendly and dedicated technicians to provide a wide range of services. They have offices at Finchley, North London and Brighton.

Finchley Literary Festival 2016

Finchley Literary Festival 2016 is in the planning stages. It will be held later than usual from Friday 24th-Sunday 26th June. We also expect to have some related events over the summer months.

We hope to include a talk from Rosie Canning ‘Orphans in Literature’ relating to her PhD research and a literary walk will hopefully make the best of the weather. We also expect to be hosting another Poetry and Music Palooza, writing workshops, as well as author events.

Keep an eye on the blog and Facebook pages. We will also be emailing you about each event so you don’t miss anything.

Looking back at FLF 2015

We were thrilled that Finchley Literary Festival was awarded 'Best event of the in Barnet' by the Barnet Eye Community awards.  For all the other categories and winners see The Barnet Eye Community Awards.

Here is a look back at 2015.

Mike Carey

Jen Campbell

Library Debate

Waterstones, N12

Savita Kalhan, Alex Wheatle, Ellie Daines

Helen Michael, Cafe Buzz

Rosie and Mike's Literary Walk

Jemma Wayne

Irenosen Okojie

Antonia Honeywell

Jen Campbell

Theresa Musgrove

Allen Ashley's Workshop

Antonia Honeywell

Antonia Honeywell

Coffee at Cafe Buzz

Katie's Workshop

Lindsay Bamfield's workshop