Damian Barr's Literary Salon, 3rd April 2020!
We live in a world on the edge of change: forced migration, climate chaos and Trump-Brexit all tilt our axis. We need stories now more than ever—to help us understand how others faced other changes so we might not just survive but thrive. Plus ça change?
When Pete’s parents moved from Cyprus to Birmingham in the 1960s in the hope of a better life, they had no money and only a little English. Everything changed. The Paphides family opened a fish-and-chip shop in Acocks Green - The Great Western Fish Bar is where Pete learned about banter and Britishness. And music—all the music. Pete stopped speaking from 4 to 7 seeking refuge in bittersweet pop. From ABBA to The Police, songs provided a safe space from domestic tensions. This warm-hearted coming-of-age memoir will have you craving salty chips and a vinyl collection. We’re delighted to host Pete’s world premiere of Broken Greek.
1960. The world is flirting with revolution and disaster and the Greek island of Hydra is a heady microcosm. Everything is more intense here—sunshine, beauty and envy. Hydra is home to a now-legendary circle of artists living messy tangled lives and all ruled over by writers Charmian Clift and George Johnston, troubled king and queen of bohemia. Everyone is drawn into the drama between magnetic writer Axel Jensen, his dazzling wife Marianne Ihlen, and a young Canadian poet called Leonard Cohen. Into the middle of all this lands teenage Erica, with a bundle of blank notebooks and grief for her mother who told her live her dreams - but what are her dreams? What, or who, is the price of paradise? Can utopia last? Polly Samson’s latest novel is wildly evocative - she returns to the Salon for another solo world-exclusive to whisk us all to Hydra in A Theatre for Dreamers.
John Niven’s new satire is set in a near-future America that’s so horribly real it veers dangerously close to non-fiction. This America survived two terms of Donald and is now in the first term of Ivanka. Frank Brill, a small-town newspaper editor in a post-print world, lives in a world of Trumpian horror where the economy has collapsed and morality with it. Frank’s already endured more than his fair share of misfortune when he’s given a terminal diagnosis. What now? Compile a ‘fuck-it list’: the names of all those to blame for all the tragedies that have befallen him. Buy a gun. He’s got nothing to lose. Right? John Niven makes his Salon debut with the world premiere of his disgustingly funny new novel The F*ck-it List.
As ever, Ella Berthoud, author of the Novel Cure, will be offering complementary bibliotherapy!
Start drinking in the glamour when the doors open at 5.45pm. The Salon starts at 7pm. We finish around 9.30pm but you’re very welcome to stay and drink or slip upstairs to Kaspar’s to eat.
· Early bird tickets are £15 inc welcome drink.
· Standard tickets are £23.50 inc welcome drink.
· Plus Eventbrite booking fees.
Tickets are seated or standing - doors open at 5.45pm, early arrivals swoop on seats. The glamorous Lancaster Ballroom is ours until the wee hours so you needn’t dash off. We will release more tickets on the day and if you can’t get in you can enjoy our podcast for free.
The Savoy has long been loved by the literary world. Emile Zola, Mark Twain, Somerset Maugham and countless others have enjoyed the hotel’s hospitality since it opened in 1889. We look forward to welcoming you and your stories.