Literature is on the rise in the capital – but it’s all off the page. London’s nightclubs, cafes and bookstores are being taken over by the spoken word: literature brought to you live by the authors and poets themselves.
Poetry lends itself to performance and poetry slams have been around for years, but the new craze is slams of other kinds: short stories, prose readings and rap. Even Ken Livingston is in on the act, with the mayor of London’s free Rise festival and its poetry slam which encourages young Londoners to challenge racism through poetry and rap.
