Last night I launched The Stone Thrower in London at Cathy Galvin’s new lit night: What’s the story? Chris Paling, David Vann, Zoe Lambert and I read to a sell-out audience of beautiful people at The Society Club in Soho. Here’s my picture caption report of the night. Click on any pic to open up the full size gallery.
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- My wife, Naomi, has our umbrella, and is somehow faster than me in heels, so I get soaked in the rain as we run for the train to King’s Cross.
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- Before the event, Cathy Galvin interviews all tonight’s readers – first up, David Vann. (These videos are for an exciting project Cathy’s working on. When it’s live, I’ll let you know.)
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- I answer Cathy’s questions. My voice is starting to go. I think I squeak once or twice.
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- The audience begins to arrive.
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- What’s The Story regulars: Emma Cantons and Paul McVeigh.
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- Chris Paling kicks off the night’s readings.
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- David Vann shares a family recipe involving canned tuna, processed cheese slices and potato chips.
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- This guy puts a mic inside my shirt and I’m paranoid about what I say for the rest of the night incase it’s being heard elsewhere, but I forget it’s there when I wee in the interval. Please let THAT now have been recorded.
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- Naomi likes the juxtaposition of this girl’s glass and purple knees so she takes this shot. She’s a painter. She has an eye for these things.
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- Naomi is fascinated by this shoe, too.
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- Cathy Galvin gives the most generous introductions. We all step up to read with larger heads than we arrived with.
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- Zoe Lambert reads ’33 Bullets’ from The War Tour, checking first that none of us speaks French or works for the Home Office.
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- I read the title story from The Stone Thrower. People laugh and are horrified in the right places.
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- Manage to get through the whole reading without my voice cracking once, phew.
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- Attentive audience.
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- Cheeky audience.
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- Alison MacLeod, Tania Hershman and I swap notes about Arvon – Tania and I are teaching there together in a few weeks.
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- Paul McVeigh and Nancy (David Vann’s lovely wife).
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- Foxy the dog – resident of The Society Club – sleeps in a handbag.
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- Jim Hinks from Comma Press comes down from Manchester HQ. Later, he will disappear from the restaurant, and we will worry about him for a few minutes.
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- Some Society Club folk leave, some stay to natter. There is more wine to drink.
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- The Society Club’s chandelier may be the biggest in Soho (unverified).
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- So many gorgeous books here. If ever I was going to ram-raid a shop, this would be it.
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- I experiment with my iPhone’s panorama function.
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- David Vann rounds people up for dinner. We all leave, but can’t find anywhere with a free table for 14-odd people. Who’d have thought? We need to find somewhere really unpopular.
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- We go micro-clubbing. This is when you enter a club, get your hand stamped. Spend twenty seconds absorbing the atmosphere, then leave quickly.
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- Thankfully, Yo Sushi has seats available and good lighting.
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- Zoe Lambert looks intense and mysterious, her chair inexplicably lit for high-drama.
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- It’s Paul McVeigh’s birthday. We drink a lot of Asahi and sake. Paul does not subscribe to my mission to rename kidney beans ‘kindey’ beans.
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- Just four of us left, Jim having disappeared mysteriously. Our waiter is keen to get a good shot of us – taking the picture from four different angles before he is satisfied. This is the best one.
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- Naomi and I head home, exhausted ’cause it’s past our bedtime. This is the last time we communicate on the journey. She listens to a podcast, I check out what Twitter and Facebook folk have been up to tonight.
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- We get home to find our 8-year-old has been busy making origami boats. This continues in the morning. There are 70 right now.
What a great blog! I did enjoy our micro-clubbing, that’s my kind of yes-we’re-over-40 Saturday night! Brilliant evening, all short stories, all books, all wonderful!
Thanks Tania 🙂
What a good evening of readings. Loved “The Stone Thrower”.Who *is* that kid? How did he get that strength? Moved by Zoe Lambert, laughed with David Vann, touched and amused by Chris Paling. Nice photos – I’ll send you some I took.
Thanks very much Constantine. It was great to see you. And thanks for sending the pics over – they’re brill!
Looks like a brilliant evening. Congratulations on the launch. Can’t wait to read the new collection.
Cheers Dan!
PS Don’t know why I ended up as thenewshortreview, damn WordPress, I never get it right!
Loved these pics Adam and the blog. What a fantastic night. You’re wife is amazing… she’s so funny – and that is (as I proved to her) an actual fact! – as well as the incredible work she does. Hope to see you guys before too long. Paul
PS Can’t find Naomi on facebook… what;s the best way to get in touch? Oh… can I use some of these?
Thanks Paul – glad you had a good birthday. Yeah, Naomi’s pretty great. She’s on Facebook as Naomi Arton, but she doesn’t check it very often. I’ll send you her email privately. And yes, you’re welcome to use the pics – you’re in half of them! See you soon. A