Selected by Colin Thubron
June 3, 2012, 2 pm – 6 pm
Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant
Tower Bridge
Royal euphoria peaks on June 3rd, when a flotilla of 1,000 flag-decked steamers, galleys and pleasure craft float down the Thames, headed by the Queen at the age of 85.
More InformationCategory: Festival
Selected by Mark Ford
June 4, 2012, 10 am
Helen Simpson Reads at the Hay Festival
Hay-on-Wye
Collections of short stories have been a tough sell in recent decades, so to make a career out of them you have to be very, very good—which Helen Simpson is.
More InformationCategory: Readings and Talks
Selected by Colin Thubron
June 8, 2012 – June 10, 2012,
Immrama Literary Festival
Lismore, Ireland
The small Immrama Literary Festival, dedicated to travel writing, will celebrate the work of Patrick Leigh Fermor, who died last year.
More InformationCategory: Festival
Selected by Joyce Carol Oates
Ongoing
‘A Streetcar Named Desire’
Broadhurst Theatre
A powerful production of a multi-racial Streetcar Named Desire directed by Emily Mann, on Broadway.
More InformationCategory: Theater
Selected by Mark Ford
Ongoing
Queen Elizabeth Hall Roof Garden
Southbank Centre
This has just reopened and is one of the nicest spots in the whole of London.
More InformationCategory: Other
Selected by Colin Thubron
June 20, 2012, 6 pm – 8 pm
Rowan Williams Speaks
Old Theater at London School of Economics
On June 20th the arrestingly erudite Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, will be speaking at the Royal Society of Literature.
More InformationCategory: Readings and Talks
Selected by Colin Thubron
July 14, 2012 – July 20, 2012, 7:30 pm
The Royal Ballet performs ‘Metamorphosis: Titian 2012’
Royal Opera House
The Royal Ballet reimagines paintings—the three great Titian canvases of the goddess Diana—in dance.
More InformationCategory: Dance