Book Slam is the brainchild of award-winning writer, Patrick Neate and is now several years in to its reign as London’s best literary nightclub. It regularly attracts a crowd of 300 plus to West London for a night of words, music and poetry from hifalutin literature to hip hop from Broken Beats to Booker Prize winning authors, Book Slam has it all.

The Book Slam podcast was launched in July 2007, and is produced by Folded Wing. The podcast was devised as a way of communicating the music, the buzz and the brilliant literary guests of the Book Slam event to a wider audience. It broadcasts the best of the live performances from the night, and these have included readings from such luminary authors as Kiran Desai and William Boyd as well as music from the best up and coming talent including Soweto Kinch and hip hop artist Ty, along with backstage and studio interviews, as well as book reviews, which have so far featured literary superstars including Will Self and Irvine Welsh.

The programme is presented by Book Slam host and curator, and Whitbread prize winning novelist, Patrick Neate. Book Slam is a programme which exemplifies the Folded Wing ethos of connection, as it connects literature with a new and younger audience, it also connects literature with music in a very fresh way, and has offered us a connection with the radio ‘establishment’, winning us a Sony Gold Award for best Internet Programme at the Radio Academy Awards in 2008. It was described as “an excellent use of the medium to increase interest in a cultural niche. It combined exciting performances with an infectiously enthusiastic presenting style”

DOWNLOADS

Bookslam Podcasts here
Subscribe using iTunes here