Foyles

Saturday 13 February 12-4pm

Percy Jackson Day

Today we're bringing the magic of the Percy Jackson books to life! We'll transport you to Mount Olympus as we celebrate the film release of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief.

1pm - Test your Percy Jackson knowledge with our Camp Half-Blood quiz.

3pm - Hear Percy's story as never before, read by the Goddess Athena herself.

PLUS
• Dress as your favourite god or goddess and enter our fancy dress competition
• Create your own artwork and display it in our Gallery of the Gods
• Win prizes and goody bags

The Children's Dept at Foyles

Tuesday 23 February 6.30pm

Robin Dunbar - How Many Friends Does One Person Need?

Why do men talk whereas women gossip, and which is better for you? When is it good to be tall, and why is monogamy a drain on the brain? This evening, Oxford Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology Robin Dunbar explains how the distant past underpins our current behaviour, and why you should really suspect anyone who has more than 150 friends on Facebook.

This event is the first in the Faber Manifesto Series. Click here for the next event in the series.

Tickets: Free, email events@foyles.co.uk to reserve a place.

The Gallery at Foyles

Saturday 27 February 11am - 5pm

Harvill Secker International Writing Day

The first in our series of full day events in association with leading publishers, today we have joined forces with Harvill Secker to celebrate the breadth and diversity of contemporary international writing. Speakers will include A S Byatt on her life and work, Nicholas Shakespeare on the classics, Stuart Neville on crime and a rare appearance by Manuel Rivas. Ticket price includes a Harvill Secker goody bag, including a signed novel by Umberto Eco.

11.10am - 12.10pm  Books that Changed the World
Joseph O'Connor, Clare Clark and Nicholas Shakespeare discuss how literature has the power to change how we view the world and what this means in our media-weary age.

12.25pm - 1.15pm Manuel Rivas
The celebrated Galician writer discusses his life and work in conversation with his translator Jonathan Dunne.

1.15pm - 2.00pm Break

2.00pm - 3.00pm A S Byatt
The Booker Prize-winning A S Byatt appears in conversation with Sam Leith.

3.15pm - 4pm Crime Pays
Stuart Neville and Gene Kerrigan explore the question of why crime fiction is big business in every language.

4.15pm - 5pm Lost in Translation
Is it really possible to translate a great work of fiction into another language? Or can a translation never be more than a shadow of the original? Alon Hilu , Xiaolu Guo and Tim Parks debate the perennial question of international writing, with Sarah Ardizzone in the chair.

5pm Close

Tickets are £18/£15 concessions and are available to purchase by following the links below.

The Gallery at Foyles

Tuesday 2 March 6.30pm

Tom Chatfield, Naomi Alderman, Justin Villiers,Rhianna Pratchett, chaired by James Crabtree - Fun Inc: Why Games are the 21st Century's Most Serious Business

With 350 million gamers worldwide and the trade in virtual goods worth over $10 billion a year, computer gaming has become seriously big business since the days of Space Invaders. In tonight's event Tom Chatfield, author of Fun Inc, joins Naomi Alderman, prize-winning author of Disobedience, and industry insiders Justin Villiers and Rhianna Pratchett, to take a fresh look at this cultural phenomenon.

Tickets: Free, email events@foyles.co.uk to reserve a place.

The Gallery at Foyles

Tuesday 9 March 6.30pm

Andrew Rawnsley - The End of the Party: The Rise and Fall of New Labour

With the General Election looming, pundits are predicting the end of New Labour's 13 year grip on the reins of government. But where did it all go wrong? In his new book Andrew Rawnsley, author of Servants of the People and Chief Political Commentator of the Observer, charts the extraordinary fall from grace of the political movement that defined a generation and tonight comes to Foyles to share his unique perspective on these turbulent times.

Tickets: Free, email events@foyles.co.uk to reserve a place.

The Gallery at Foyles

Thursday 11 March 6.30pm

Hanif Kureishi - Collected Stories

Hanif Kureishi, the author who brought us The Black Album and The Buddha of Suburbi, joins us this evening to read from his new collection of stories and to discuss his remarkable literary career. Gathered together into one volume for the first time, Hanif Kureishi's provocative short fiction portrays a society stretched to breaking point by political tensions, and examines the forces they exert on people's everyday lives.

Tickets: Free, email events@foyles.co.uk to reserve a place.

The Gallery at Foyles

Saturday 20 March 11am - 5pm

Picador Day

Jim Crace, Jackie Kay, Kate Clanchy, Graham Robb and Jon Ronson head up a full day of events, including panels on Families in literature, Writing of Place and how to get published. Join us for your chance to take part in lively discussions and meet your favourite Picador authors.

Tickets are £18/£15 concessions and are available to purchase by following the links below.

The Gallery at Foyles

Thursday 25 March, 6.30pm

Kat Banyard - The Equality Illusion: Why Women and Men Still Aren't Equal

Today it is widely believed that feminism has achieved its aims, and that women and men have achieved equality. And yet women working full-time in the UK are paid on average 17% less than men, and domestic violence causes more death and disability among women aged 16-44 than cancer or traffic accidents. Tonight Kat Banyard, former Campaigns Officer at the Fawcett Society, argues that feminism is one of the most urgent and relevant social justice campaigns today.

This event is the second in the Faber Manifesto Series, click here for the next event in the series.

Tickets: Free, email events@foyles.co.uk to reserve a place.

The Gallery at Foyles

Monday 29 March 6.30pm

Donna Leon - A Question of Belief

In an exclusive event, Donna Leon leaves her adopted city of Venice behind for a rare visit to London. A Question of Belief combines thrilling intrigue with her celebrated evocation of modern-day Venice, as Commissario Brunetti uncovers a deadly plot at the Courthouse, while the city is pounded by a devastating heatwave. Tonight is your chance to hear Donna Leon read from her new novel and learn how she finds her inspiration amongst the bridges and piazzas of the City of Water.

Tickets: Free, email events@foyles.co.uk to reserve a place.

The Gallery at Foyles

Wednesday 31 March, 6.30pm

Phillip Blond - Red Toryism: How Progressive Conservatism Can Rescue Britain

Conventional politics is at a crossroads. Amid recession, depression, poverty, increasing violence and rising inequality, our current politics is exhausted and inadequate. This evening, Founder and Director of think tank ResPublica Phillip Blond argues that only a radical new political settlement can tackle the problems we face.

This event is the third in the Faber Manifesto Series. Click here for the next event in the series.

Tickets: Free, email events@foyles.co.uk to reserve a place.

The Gallery at Foyles

Wednesday 14 April 6.30pm

David Crystal - A Little Book of Language

Ever wondered just what an Adam's apple is actually for, or why Yoda's speech is back-to-front? Find out as renowned linguist David Crystal returns to the Gallery to discuss his latest work, a charming and light-hearted introduction to the mysteries of linguistics.

Tickets: Free, email events@foyles.co.uk to reserve a place.

The Gallery at Foyles

Saturday 8 May 11-5pm

Vintage Day

Join us we present a full day of events in association with leading literary imprint Vintage. Watch this space for details.

Tickets are £18/£15 concessions and are available to purchase by following the links below.

The Gallery at Foyles

Thursday 27 May, 6.30pm

Lucy Worsley - The Secret History of Kensington Palace

While the tales of Kensington Palace royalty are often told, the lives of the courtiers who lived and worked there hold equal fascination. Among them, a vice chamberlain with many vices, a maid of honour with a secret marriage, a pushy painter, an alcoholic equerry, two mysterious turbaned Turks and any number of discarded royal mistresses. Tonight Lucy Worsley, Chief Curator of Historic Royal Palaces, offers an eye-opening portrait of an enthralling group of servants.

This event is the fourth in the Faber Manifesto Series. Click here for the next event in the series.

Tickets: Free, email events@foyles.co.uk to reserve a place.

The Gallery at Foyles

Thursday 24 June, 6.30pm

Marek Kohn - Turned Out Nice: How the British Isles Will Change as the World Heats Up

This evening, one of the UK's foremost science writers offers a fiercely honest projection of the future of one small corner of the planet: the islands of Britain and Ireland. Kohn has looked closely at six landscapes and one city to show how our world will have altered over the course of a century, arguing that in the near future we will have paid a terrible price for what has until now been relative good fortune.

This event is the fifth in the Faber Manifesto Series.

Tickets: Free, email events@foyles.co.uk to reserve a place.

The Gallery at Foyles

Lunchtime Concerts

Join us on Friday lunchtimes for our new regular series of free classical concerts, in the intimate setting of our Gallery. Taking place twice a month, the concerts will feature a diverse range of artists and ensembles performing works from across the classical repertoire.

Tickets: Free, email events@foyles.co.uk to reserve a place.

Friday 12 March 1pm
Yuka Ishizuka, Violin, Nadav Hertzka, Piano

BEETHOVEN Violin Sonata No.4 in A minor
PROKOFIEV Violin Sonata No.2 in D major
LISZT - WAGNER: Fantasy on themes from Rienzi
TCHAIKOVSKY Waltz-Scherzo Op.34

Yuka Ishizuka was born in 1988 in the USA and started playing the violin at the age of three. Now in her fourth year of the Undergraduate programme at the Royal Academy of Music, she has won several prizes, including first prize at the International Young Musicians Competition in Italy, the Winfield Small Solo Violin Prize and Harold Croxton Chamber Music Prize. In 2007 she was invited to join the Perlman Music Programme in New York, where she performed chamber music with Itzhak Perlman.

Israeli pianist Nadav Hertzka has performed throughout the United States, Europe and Asia in major venues such as Carnegie Weill Hall, Henry Crown Hall, The Tel-Aviv Museum and Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center, New-York. Mr Hertzka won top prizes in the Frank Peleg Piano Competition in Haifa, The Buchmann-Mehta School of Music Piano Competition in Tel-Aviv, The Pinault Society International Piano Competition in New York and The Ben-Haim Competition in Israel. He is currently pursuing his Master’s Degree at the Royal Academy of Music.

Friday 26 March 1pm
Arion Quartet

SCHUBERT 12 German Dances
RAVEL 3 movements from the Mother Goose Suite
SCOTT JOPLIN 3 Rags for string quintet (Original Rags, Wall street Rag & Rose Leaf Rag)
JAMES SCOTT 3 Rags for String Quintet (Prosperity Rag, Modesty Rag & Paramount Rag)

This will be the first public performance of Nicolas Cherniavsky’s new arrangements of these remarkable rags by James Scott and Scott Joplin.

Friday 16 April 1pm
Trilogy Clarinet Ensemble

Programme TBC

Trilogy was formed in 2007 from the three first-year clarinettists at the Royal Academy of Music. They won the Nicholas Blake Prize for wind and brass chamber music, and have since had a variety of concerts including playing at Dame Thea King’s Memorial Concert, recitals in Southwark Cathedral and Windsor, and private events in venues such as Waddesdon Manor and Tate Britain. In 2008 Trilogy expanded to form a clarinet quartet. They perform a wide variety of repertoire from arrangements to original music, from Mozart to Piazzolla Tangos. Keen to promote new music, Trilogy has also commissioned new works for the ensemble.

LONDON BOOK FAIR

Foyles is very pleased to be the official bookselling partner of the London Book Fair again, where this year's market focus is South Africa. We'll be supporting the English PEN Literary Cafe with their events programme and hosting a number of South African Literature events here at our shop on Charing Cross Road. Details of those events are coming soon, so watch this space...

On Saturday 17 April, the LBF will host a number of seminars open to the public in Earls Court. Please see details below for event times and booking information.

Saturday 17 April
11am - 1pm
Conference Centre Rooms 1 & 2, Level 3, Earls Court 1

How to Get Published Masterclass

Danuta Kean, journalist; Carole Blake, agent; Mark Booth, publisher; Meg Rosoff, author; Lionel Shriver, author.

Now in its eighth year, The London Book Fair Masterclass has established itself as a must-attend event. The How to Get Published Masterclass 2010 will feature high-profile authors and leading experts in the publishing industry in a session that will enlighten, entertain and offer invaluable advice about how to turn your manuscript into the next bestseller.

Cost: £35 before 28 February, for tickets click here

Saturday 17 April
2.30pm - 5pm
Conference Centre Rooms 1 & 2, Level 3, Earls Court 1

How to Write for Screen: Film & TV Masterclass

Julian Friedmann, agent; David Nicholls, author.

Do you want to write for film or television? How do you go about learning the best way to tell your stories in script format? What books (and scripts) should you read? Do you need to do a degree in scriptwriting or can you do short courses? Who should you submit to and what should you submit? Are film and television writers different from novelists? This Masterclass will answer all these questions and more. So if you want to write for film or television, don't miss this event with a distinguished panel from film, TV and books.

Cost: £35 before 28 February, for tickets click here

Bookshop Barnies

In these stimulating salon-style discussions authors are challenged in front of an audience to justify their work and fight their corner.

Ray's Jazz  

Tuesday 9 February 6pm

NWJ Project

The NWJ Project is a dynamic new group led by Saxophone player Roberto Manzin and guitar player Francesco Lo Castro.

Completed by Maurizio Minardi on piano, they perform a series of melodic original compositions with a Mediterranean flavour.

:: Roberto Manzin - Tenor and Alto Sax
:: Francesco Lo Castro - Guitar
:: Maurizio Minardi - Piano
:: Richard Sadler - Double Bass
Plus special guests

The Café at Foyles

Thursday 11 February 6pm

The Green Collective

The Green Collective present a tribute to one of Jazz's best groove masters and most under-rated heroes, recognised by many of the jazz greats as truly influential to both the art of guitar and to Jazz itself. The five-piece Green Collective perform a selection of Green's funkier grooves from the late 60's and early 70's Blue note period.

:: Paul Anderson - Guitar
:: Stephen Wilcock - Saxophone & Flute
:: Francois David, Bass - Keys
:: David Wademan - Bass
:: Adam Zebedee - Drums

The Café at Foyles

Saturday 13 February 6pm

Kit Downes Trio

With the soft, understated accompaniment of drummer James Maddren and bassist Calum Gourlay, the easy virtuosity of pianist Kit Downes finds its natural counterpoint in this ultra-refined, ultra-cool trio.

:: Kit Downes - Piano
:: Calum Gourlay - Double Bass
:: James Maddren - Drums

The Café at Foyles

Saturday 20 February 6pm

Will Butterworth Trio

One of the UK's top jazz pianists, Will Butterworth returns to the Ray's Jazz Stage with his trio.

:: Will Butterworth - Piano
:: Henrik Jensen - Double Bass
:: Peter Ibbetson - Drums

The Café at Foyles

Friday 26 February 6pm

Trio Manouche

Trio Manouche are a world-class swing ensemble formed by Simon Harris in 2005. The group perform a mixture of traditional classics and up-beat quirky original compositions. These originals bring a unique and contemporary take on the genre and the repertoire.

:: Simon Harris - Composer/Acoustic Guitar/Vocals
:: Frank Moon - Acoustic Guitar
:: Colin Somervell - Double Bass

The Café at Foyles

Thursday 15 April 6pm

Branco Stoysin Duo

This original and highly lyrical guitarist performs in the Café to launch his new album Inexhaustible.

:: Branco Stoysin - Guitar
:: Leslee Booth - Electric Bass

The Café at Foyles

Watch this space for details of our Winter/Spring line-up, coming soon.

Watch this space for details of our Winter/Spring line-up, coming soon.

Watch this space for details of our Winter/Spring line-up, coming soon.

Literary Suppers with Foyles Bookshop & the St Pancras Grand Restaurant

Following the successful launch last November, Foyles Bookshop and the St Pancras Grand continue their literary suppers this spring. With exquisite menus chosen specifically for the occasion, distinguished literary figures will speak to guests within the relaxed but elegant atmosphere of the restaurant. Come along to dine and discuss in one of London's most treasured buildings.

Monday 22 February, 6.30pm for 7

Joanna Trollope OBE

In this exclusive London event, Joanna Trollope introduces her new novel, The Other Family, for our first literary supper of the new year. Do join us as the highly acclaimed and prolific author reads from and discusses her latest heart-wrenching tale of love and loss, bonds and betrayal, over a three-course meal in the St Pancras Grand.

Tickets: £40

To reserve for Joanna Trollope's supper, contact Amanda Gowing 0207 870 9900 or email stpg@searcys.co.uk

For menu and wine details, or to discover more about the St Pancras Grand, visit www.stpancrasgrand.com

Kings Place – Words on Mondays Words on Monday is a weekly series of spoken word events at Kings Place providing the opportunity to listen to and debate with leading minds from the spheres of arts, culture and the sciences. On 5 October, Poet in the City celebrates the work of Pablo Neruda. On 19 October, Clive James unveils the fifth volume of his Unreliable Memoirs. The Guardian will also hold a series of debates with leading thinkers and opinion-formers of our time, and on 7 December Andrew Marr tells the story of modern Britain. For further information visit the Kings Place website.

Westfield London

Half-term Storytelling at Foyles Monday 15 - Friday 19 February During half-term, come to Foyles at Westfield for storytelling sessions each day. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday we'll be reading your favourites at 11.30am and 4.30pm, while on Tuesday and Thursday join us at 12.30pm and 3.30pm. All are welcome, just meet us in the children's department at Foyles! Plus...after half-term is over, Foyles will continue storytelling every weekday afternoon at 4.30.