Gary Budden, author of London Cognita, in conversation with Nicholas Royle, author of London Gothic

Описание: Please join us for an event with writers Gary Budden and Nicholas Royle, in celebration of the release of their new books LONDON INCOGNITA and LONDON GOTHIC.

LONDON INCOGNITA (Gary Budden) chronicles a city caught in the cycle of perpetual decline and continuous renewal: the English capital, groaning under the weight of two-thousand years of history, as seen through the eyes of its desperate and troubled inhabitants.

A malicious presence from the 1970s resurfaces in the fevered alleyways of the city; an amnesiac goddess offers brittle comfort to the spirits of murdered shop-girls; and an obscure and forgotten London writer holds the key to a thing known as the emperor worm. As bombs detonate and buildings burn down, the city’s selfish inhabitants hunt the ghosts of friends, family and lovers to the urban limits of the metropolis, uncovering the dark secrets of London.

LONDON GOTHIC (Nicholas Royle): In his fourth short story collection, an exploration of the dark side of modern London, Nicholas Royle redefines urban Gothic for the twenty-first century. Fifteen stories, dating from 2000 to the present day and including seven brand-new pieces, demonstrate Royle’s range of styles and techniques. Often writing against a background of film, art or literature, he unearths unease in the streets of Shepherd’s Bush, Hackney or South Tottenham, and creates uncanny effects with innovative, experimental forms.

London Gothic is the first in a series of city-based short story collections. Forthcoming volumes are devoted to Manchester and Paris.