Here’s two names you rarely encounter in the same sentence: John Keats, peerless Romantic poet, and Nancy Dell’Olio, peerless, er, socialite, and, it turns out, major Keats aficionado and Hampstead resident. With this knowledge on board, it’s less of a … Continue reading →
T.S. Eliot – arguably the greatest poet of the 20th century – lived for two years in Compayne Gardens. Local actor and writer Edward Petherbridge has put together a short film, While the Music Lasts, about Eliot’s time in West … Continue reading →
If you thought that literary festivals mainly happened in fields on the outskirts of small Welsh towns, think again. The first-ever Kilburn Literary Festival starts today and runs until 4th November, with events in various local venues including West Hampstead’s … Continue reading →
Canadian ex-pat author/producer Jeff Norton talked to West Hampstead Life about the importance of getting kids to read, his love of a margarita, and – of course – his next book. Was it always your dream to be a writer? … Continue reading →
Susie Steiner, Guardian journalist and novelist, chatted to West Hampstead Life about life as a working mother in West Hampstead. Looking from the outside, you appear to have it all. How did you do it? The career was very slow … Continue reading →
My husband has oft commented that with our Farmer’s Market, our feisty WI group and altogether friendly villagey atmosphere in Mill Lane and West End Lane, West Hampstead could be twinned with Ambridge. Not entirely surprising then that Susie Steiner, … Continue reading →
When Harris’ debut, The Hollow Man, was published in 2011, I thought ‘It doesn’t get much better than this’. His thriller, set in Hampstead, fulfilled my fantasy requirements of an intelligent crime novel: sharply written, fabulously paced, wonderful central character … Continue reading →
What is love? This has occupied many great minds through the ages, from Stendhal to, erm, Haddaway. It even topped the list of Google searches a couple of years ago. Now, pupils at Emmanuel School in West Hampstead have tackled the … Continue reading →
Kilburn, Willesden, Harlesden. London’s north-west neighbourhoods pulse through this triptych of interconnected tales. Their council estates and streets are the building blocks and threads of a narrative that sweeps its way through ideas of opportunity, identity and class. Zadie Smith’s … Continue reading →
This month sees the return of the ever-popular Whampbooks lock-in; the fifth edition no less. What is this event? I hear you cry. It’s a chance to browse and stock up on some holiday reading at the lovely West End … Continue reading →
