BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Housmans Bookshop - ECPv6.15.18//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://housmans.com X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Housmans Bookshop REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Europe/London BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:+0000 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:BST DTSTART:20240331T010000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0000 TZNAME:GMT DTSTART:20241027T010000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:+0000 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:BST DTSTART:20250330T010000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0000 TZNAME:GMT DTSTART:20251026T010000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:+0000 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:BST DTSTART:20260329T010000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0000 TZNAME:GMT DTSTART:20261025T010000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:+0000 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:BST DTSTART:20270328T010000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0000 TZNAME:GMT DTSTART:20271031T010000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20251204T190000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20251204T203000 DTSTAMP:20260405T141238 CREATED:20251029T162604Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251029T175834Z UID:73249-1764874800-1764880200@housmans.com SUMMARY:BOOK LAUNCH: SEA NOW: Eva Meijer in conversation with Lucy Mercer DESCRIPTION:event for an exciting Dutch writer supported by Arts Council England and New Dutch Writing.\n\n\n\n‘Sea Now joins Meijer’s rich oeuvre of novels and philosophical meditations on multispecies coexistence. One could read this novel as the story of two characters—the Netherlands and the sea—posing a question of each other: What am I? What and who is “the Netherlands”? What and who is “the sea”? The first question implicates uncomfortable stories of value: Who determines the status quo that decides who or what (a foreigner?\, a painting?) deserves to be saved\, who or what (a US-trained scientist?\, the Dutch language?) would count as a loss?’ \n\n\n\nMandy-Suzanne Wong\, Asymptote \n\n\n\n‘One of the unanticipated highlights of my reading year…a fabulist disaster novel\, doubling as identity-of-the-nation commentary…playful\, with a dry sly omniscient voice…a little bit as though Stephen Baxter’s Flood (2008) (or Japan Sinks) had been rewritten by Italo Calvino….the cumulative effect of this wide-ranging\, generous narrative attention is a constant sense of motion\, and a lightness of touch that allows Meijer to move smoothly from\, say\, haunting elegy to academic satire to a more serious intellectual point… Simply as a page-to-page reading experience\, Sea Now is consistently fresh and interesting: You never quite know where its eye will fall next.’ \n\n\n\nNiall Harrison\, Locus \n\n\n\nHousmans are very excited to welcome the celebrated writer\, philosopher\, and visual artist\, Eva Meijer to the shop to launch her novel Sea Now\, newly translated into English by Anne Thompson Melo. This work is a profound meditation on the relationship between the human and non-human and a biting satire of governmental ineptitude in the face of climate change. As the sea swallows a nation\, the prime minister holds a daily press conference and scientists try to find an explanation\, without success. A climate activist\, a young poet\, and an oceanographer journey across the new sea and return to confront all that has been lost\, as a coming-of-age adventure story is braided with a clarion call to wake up to the defining challenge of our age. Eva will be joined in conversation by the poet and academic Lucy Mercer\, author of Emblem (Prototype\, 2022) and Afterlife (forthcoming from Fitzcarraldo Editions.) The two will talk for around 45 minutes to 1 hour followed by an open discussion. \n\n\n\nOur Speakers \n\n\n\nEva Meijer is a philosopher\, visual artist\, writer and singer- songwriter. Their fiction and non-fiction has been translated into over twenty languages. Since the publication of their first novel in 2011\, their works have received numerous awards\, including the Halewijnprijs honouring their oeuvre. Meijer’s books have been met enthusiastically by the Dutch but also international press including reviews in the Guardian\, Der Spiegel and New York Review of Books. \n\n\n\nLucy Mercer‘s first collection Emblem (Prototype\, 2022) was a Poetry Book Society Choice. Her nonfiction essay on wax and mortality\, Afterlife\, is forthcoming with Fitzcarraldo Editions. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nShare this:\n Share on X (Opens in new window)\n X\n \n Share on Facebook (Opens in new window)\n Facebook\n \n Share on Insta (Opens in new window)\n Insta\n Like this:Like Loading... URL:https://housmans.com/event/book-launch-sea-now-eva-meijer-in-conversation-with-lucy-mercer-2/ CATEGORIES:In Store,Literary Event,Online event ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://housmans.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Sea-Now-Web-Cover-spine-1-1.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20251206T190000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20251206T203000 DTSTAMP:20260405T141238 CREATED:20251125T114740Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251204T173148Z UID:74099-1765047600-1765053000@housmans.com SUMMARY:CANCELLED: A Short History of Queer Parenting with Kirsty Loehr DESCRIPTION:Kirsty Loehr’s first book A Short History of Queer Women\, a brilliantly written and incisive history of female same-sex desire was one of Housmans’ best-selling titles in 2024. So we are DELIGHTED that she’s back with another brilliantly written and incisive (and warm and funny!!) history\, this time of Queer Parenting! \n\n\n\nQueer families\, Kirsty argues\, have always existed. Even Sappho had a daughter named Cleis! For centuries\, the women of ‘The Golden Orchid Society’ in Qing-dynasty China were getting married and raising daughters together – platonically\, obviously… And Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson’s fabulously bisexual open marriage proved women really can have it all – a husband\, two kids\, a writing career and Virginia Woolf. Maybe you’re exploring your options. Maybe you don’t want kids but you have questions. Either way\, Kirsty Loehr provides another rollicking guide to the ups and downs of queer parenthood through the ages. \n\n\n\nDUE TO UNFORSEEN CIRCUMSTANCES THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED. WE APOLOGISE FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE CAUSED. \nShare this:\n Share on X (Opens in new window)\n X\n \n Share on Facebook (Opens in new window)\n Facebook\n \n Share on Insta (Opens in new window)\n Insta\n Like this:Like Loading... URL:https://housmans.com/event/book-launch-a-short-history-of-queer-parenting-with-kirsty-loehr/ CATEGORIES:Feminist event,In Store,Literary Event,Online event END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260205T190000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260205T203000 DTSTAMP:20260405T141238 CREATED:20251117T181937Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260127T123947Z UID:73851-1770318000-1770323400@housmans.com SUMMARY:SOLD OUT! THE LOG BOOKS: VOICES OF QUEER BRITAIN AND THE HELPLINE THAT LISTENED with Tash Walker &Adam Zmith DESCRIPTION:please note this event is now sold out. To be added to a waiting list please email shop@housmans.com\n\n\n\n\n\nAn intimate history of LGBTQ+ life over four decades\, discovered in a stash of forgotten\, handwritten notes.\n\n\n\nSwitchboard was founded at Housmans\, and operated out of our premises for many years. So we are honored to start LGBT+ History Month by launching a book that covers an intimate part of Switchboard’s proud history and we look forward to welcoming its authors Tash Walker and Adam Zmith to the shop for an evening of discussion and celebration. \n\n\n\n‘A fantastic journey through an overlooked archive bursting with humanity and real life on every page.’ Dan Snow \n\n\n\nIn a crawlspace at the offices of Switchboard\, a queer helpline in operation since 1974\, lies dozens of log books kept by volunteers describing the phone calls they had taken: a teenager whose parents had kicked them out of their home for dressing as the wrong gender; a lesbian terrified of having her baby taken away from her; a man arrested for chatting up another man in a public toilet; a young person wanting to know how to come out. These logs were traces of tens of thousands of queer lives\, a bridge to a past hidden from people like Tash Walker and Adam Zmith in their youth\, captured by people who lent an ear to those in need. Walker and Zmith came of age in the time of Section 28\, a law which banned councils and schools ‘promoting the teaching of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship’. In recovering these logs\, they encountered people grappling with feelings\, questions and problems both familiar and different. They set out to learn from – and sometimes speak to – people on both sides of the calls. Charged with joy\, gossip\, sensuality\, heartbreak and sometimes fear\, and with a potent relevancy to the world today\, Walker and Zmith have collected these stories in The Log Books. They capture queer lives in stunning detail\, embarking on a journey of both collective history and self -discovery\, propelling it into the foreground of our national history. \n\n\n\n‘Essential reading\, grounded in the past while also explaining the urgency of LGBTQ+ politics today.’TOM RASMUSSEN\, author of Diary of a Drag Queen \n\n\n\n‘Hauntingly beautiful\, this is a testament to the ongoing courage and care so profound in our community. I was enchanted at every page. Completely life – changing.’ DAN GLASS\, author of Queer Footprints \n\n\n\nOUR SPEAKERS: \n\n\n\nTash Walker is a writer\, podcast producer and community organiser who has worked with institutions such as the Barbican\, BBC\, and Queer Britain; they were a member of Switchboard’s board for eight years. \n\n\n\nAdam Zmith is a writer and multi-format producer; his book Deep Sniff: A History of Poppers and Queer Futures won the Polari First Book Prize. He writes theatre shows\, talks and podcasts\, including Press Play Turn On which won Podcast of the Year at the British Podcast Awards 2024. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIf you choose ‘book +entry’ your copies of the book will be available to collect on the evening. If you would like to collect it earlier\, or arrange for delivery\, please contact us (postage is £2.95). Telephone 020 7837 4473 or email shop@housmans.com. \n\n\n\nDoors Open at 6:45pm\, Event Starts 7:00. \n\n\n\nplease note this event is now sold out. To be added to a waiting list please email shop@housmans.com \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nShare this:\n Share on X (Opens in new window)\n X\n \n Share on Facebook (Opens in new window)\n Facebook\n \n Share on Insta (Opens in new window)\n Insta\n Like this:Like Loading... URL:https://housmans.com/event/book-launch-the-log-books-voices-of-queer-britain-and-the-helpline-that-listened-with-tash-walker-adam-zmith/ CATEGORIES:In Store,Literary Event,Online event ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://housmans.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/The-Log-Books_cover.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260424T190000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260424T203000 DTSTAMP:20260405T141238 CREATED:20260328T151620Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260330T121312Z UID:77116-1777057200-1777062600@housmans.com SUMMARY:PUBLIC LECTURE: Laurence Housman and the Women's Suffrage Movement DESCRIPTION:Learn about Housmans’ namesake and his efforts to fight for women’s suffrage. This free talk is in collaboration UCL\, who hold the Laurence Housman archive. Personal items of Housman’s taken from the archive will be on display. \n\n\n\nThis public lecture will explore Housmans Bookshop namesake Laurence Housman (1865-1958) and his active role in the women’s suffrage movement. It will shed new light on UCL’s Laurence Housman Collection by discussing how Housman’s sociopolitical values emerged during the Victorian period as he developed an artistic practice as an Aesthetic and Decadent illustrator. Housman was also a writer who would go on to contribute to Votes for Women (1908-18)\, a suffrage newspaper edited by Emmeline and Frederick Pethick-Lawrence. He would later collaborate with his sister\, the engraver Clemence Housman\, to found the Suffrage Atelier\, an artists’ collective. Using illustration as a form of social and political resistance\, Housman designed An Anti-Suffrage Alphabet (1911)\, a work that featured many women artists who would go on to forge professional careers\, including Pamela Colman Smith. \n\n\n\nDr Michelle Reynolds is a researcher in nineteenth- and twentieth-century art and visual culture. Her PhD thesis\, which she completed at the University of Exeter\, considered the professionalisation of women illustrators and cartoonists in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Britain and their relationship to the socio-political and cultural phenomenon of the New Woman. Her research interests include women artists and designers\, illustration and book studies\, gender and sexuality\, reform movements\, dress histories\, and graphic satire. \n\n\n\nThis is a free event\, but please RSVP. Link below: \n\n\nShare this:\n Share on X (Opens in new window)\n X\n \n Share on Facebook (Opens in new window)\n Facebook\n \n Share on Insta (Opens in new window)\n Insta\n Like this:Like Loading... URL:https://housmans.com/event/public-lecture-laurence-housmans-and-the-womens-suffrage-movement/ CATEGORIES:Book Talk,Online event ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://housmans.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Laurence-Housman-and-the-Womens-Suffrage-Movement-Public-Lecture-Poster-REPLACEMENT-POSTER.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260429T190000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260429T203000 DTSTAMP:20260405T141238 CREATED:20260331T123811Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260331T123828Z UID:77181-1777489200-1777494600@housmans.com SUMMARY:BOOK TALK: The Journal of a Kurdish Political Prisoner DESCRIPTION:Join for a discussion of the journal of Kurdish revolutionary\, Ali Poyraz. He spent twenty-one years and four months in Turkish prisons. He was born in 1962 in Bozüyük\, an Alevi village in the Gürün district of Sivas. According to Yeni Özgür Politika\, his political consciousness was shaped by his older brother\, Hüseyin Poyraz (also known as Rubar Dicle)\, a member of the PKK Central Committee. In 1981\, Ali was captured by Turkish authorities in a rural area of Pazarcık while serving as a PKK cadre. Tried by a military court\, he was sentenced to death. Although the Turkish Supreme Court upheld the sentence\, it was later commuted to twenty-one years and four months of imprisonment following the abolition of the death penalty in Turkey under Prime Minister Turgut Özal. \n\n\n\nAli’s journal records his thoughts and observations\, providing invaluable insight into life inside Turkish prisons\, including the organisation\, morale\, and activities of political prisoners. His journal is a mine of information that lends itself to much probing and understanding of the conflict between the Turkish state and the PKK over the past 45 years. This book is published for scholarly purposes\, following the recent disbandment of the PKK as an armed force\, and the changing political landscape in Turkey today. \n\n\n\nWe will discuss this powerful and important book\, followed by a wider discussion of political imprisonment more generally. \n\n\n\nAs always\, tickets are priced on a sliding scale. If you are unable to pay for a ticket please do not hesitate to contact us at shop@housmans.com\, and a free ticket will be made available. \n\n\n\nIf you choose ‘book +entry’ your copies of the book will be available to collect on the evening. If you would like to collect it earlier\, or arrange for delivery\, please contact us (postage is £2.95). Telephone 020 7837 4473 or email shop@housmans.com. \n\n\n\nDoors Open at 6:45pm\, Event Starts 7:00. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nShare this:\n Share on X (Opens in new window)\n X\n \n Share on Facebook (Opens in new window)\n Facebook\n \n Share on Insta (Opens in new window)\n Insta\n Like this:Like Loading... URL:https://housmans.com/event/book-talk-the-journal-of-a-kurdish-political-prisoner/ CATEGORIES:In Store,Online event ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://housmans.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/198333206a78eaa9992c740ed6ede77b.jpg END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR