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Bloomsbury Institute enters reader events market

09.12.11 | Charlotte Williams

Bloomsbury has set up a literary events arm called Bloomsbury Institute, hosting literary salons, lectures and book clubs, as well as providing sessions for unpublished writers.

Claire Daly, previously festival co-ordinator for the Soho Literary Festival, has been appointed as Bloomsbury Institute events manager, with upwards of 30 events planned a year, in addition to new events and masterclasses expanding the established programme for unpublished writers offered under the Writers' & Artists' Yearbook brand.

The events will largely be hosted at the publisher's offices in Bedford Square, central London.

Man Booker-shortlisted Stephen Kelman will be among the first to speak at a Bloomsbury Salon event. He will be interviewed, alongside In Darkness author Nick Lake, by Julia Eccleshare on 31st January. The first Bloomsbury Institute Lecture will be given in  February by Slow Finance author Gervais Williams.

The Bloomsbury Book Club will begin with a William Boyd event on 29th February, held in partnership with debating forum Intelligence Squared. Salon events and lectures will cost £8 to attend, with the Book Club charging £30, sending readers signed, first edition copies of the relevant book ahead of the meeting.

The Writers' and Artists' Yearbook events, offering guidance to unpublished authors, will include a one-to-one "Beat the Rejection Clinic", priced £199, and a "How to Hook an Agent" lunch, price yet to be confirmed.

School groups of children aged eight to 10 will also be invited to Bedford Square each month to learn about publishing, with children's publisher Emma Hopkin giving a talk to pupils.

Daly said: "We want to bring about a renaissance of interaction between authors and readers, and we want to do that directly." 

Meanwhile, Birmingham independent Tindal Street Press this week launched its own creative writing programme, Tindal Street Masterclasses, with Beginners Level and Academy Level courses, priced £400 and £450 respectively for the first 10-week term, led by author Josie Barnard.

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