Last night, Clerkenwell Tales hosted China Miéville and Voyager science-fiction author Cory Doctorow for a reading and signing. The demand was so great they moved the event venue from the store to the church next door to accomodate more people. If you get a chance, definitely check out Clerkenwell Tales — it’s a fantastic bookshop in London on a really interesting street with loads of restaurants and bars, well worth a visit.
An eager audience filled the church, sipping wine and tapping away at the most iPads I’ve ever seen in one room! Cory read a chilling passage from his YA novel For the Win and China changed his mind from reading a short story to reading a chapter from his latest book, Kraken. Then emcee Robert Sharp from English PEN led several interesting discussions, covering topics like writing by hand, Cory’s immense system of archiving, whether it’s necessary for authors to blog and all sorts of questions from twitter and from the audience.
- Left to right: Cory, China and Robert
There was a moment of drama as an audience member was taken ill (thankfully @booksellerpete has assured us that she is completely fine!), and the event spilled out onto Exmouth Market street — where the quick thinking event organisers brought out tables for Cory and China to sign books – and the wine continued to flow out of doors! Speaking of iPads, I think Cory even got the chance to sign one… now that’s pretty cool.
All in all the evening went extremely well, and I hope that Clerkenwell Tales will continue to host such interesting and creative events. Were you there? Comment and let me know!
Tags: author event, Cory Doctorow, For the Win
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From the New York Time bestselling author, Cory Doctorow, comes For The Win, a provocative and exhilarating tale of teen rebellion against global corporations and a call to arms for a new generation.
Set in the not too distant future, Doctorow’s novel tells of a world in which workers in special economic zones are trapped in lives of poverty with no trade unions to represent their rights. Matthew and his friends labour day and night as gold-farmers, amassing virtual wealth that’s sold on to rich Western players, while in the slums of Mumbai ‘General Robotwallah’ Mala marshals her team of online thugs on behalf of the local gang-boss, who in turn works for the game-owners. They’re all being exploited, as their friend Wei-Dong, all the way over in LA, knows, but can do little about.
Until they begin to realize that their similarities outweigh their differences, and agree to work together to claim their rights to fair working conditions. Under the noses of the ruling elites in China and the rest of Asia, they fight their bosses, the owners of the games and rich speculators, outsmarting them all with their unbeatable gaming skills. But soon the battle will spill over from the virtual world to the real one, leaving Mala, Matthew and even Wei-Dong fighting not just for their rights, but for their lives…
If you haven’t read a Doctorow, now is the time to start. Just be warned that once you have, you’ll find it near-impossible to stop.
Tags: Book of the Month, Cory Doctorow, For the Win, Makers
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