Books by and for independent women

To Hell with the Lighthouse

Remember when we told you about the May instalment of literary clubnight To Hell with the Lighthouse? Well, whilst our editor was fretting about the ash cloud and putting off packing for an adventure to Barcelona until the last possible minute, our ravishing guest contributor Kerry Ryan was far more organised, and went along on our behalf to investigate:

On an unseasonably cold Monday night in May, I fully expected Tin Pan Alley to be deserted, but Soho never sleeps or stays in to wash its smalls. Down some rickety steps and I found myself in a crowded subterranean bar that served cocktails and rock n’ roll with a smattering of Bikini Kill and the Smiths. It was independent publishing outfit To Hell with Publishing’s monthly literary night at Peter Parker’s, and as one of the guest readers, Andrew O’Hagan, said himself, it ‘totally rocked.’

In actual fact Andrew was congratulating Cathi Unsworth on her shit-hot reading of new noir novel Bad Penny Blues but everyone who spent the night sipping whisky sours and listening to three-time novelist, Helen Oyeyemi, followed by tres chic Ms. Unsworth and debonair Mr. O’Hagan, would agree that he could well have been describing the whole To Hell with the Lighthouse experience.

When To Hell’s lovely MC, Emma, introduced 26 year-old Helen Oyeyemi by listing her writerly achievements, Helen laughed and pleaded, ‘Please don’t hate me’. But how could we? Envy was soon tempered by her soft voice and sweet manner, as she read two intriguing excerpts from her most-recent novel, White is for Witching.

After some bitching music and liberal libations, Cathi Unsworth took to the stage, a blonde-haired, red-lipped literary spitfire in heels who proceeded to work a special kind of magic on the audience. Her atmospheric reading was perfectly suited to the Rock n’ Roll Club and, combined with a smoky-room syncopated jazz soundtrack by Pete Woodhead, took us right back in time to post-war Soho and the unsolved ‘Jack the Stripper’ murders.

When the cheering and whooping for Cathi had finally subsided, Andrew O’Hagan related how watching Dr Zhivago as a boy and witnessing Omar Sharif knock out a sonnet in seconds before retiring to bed and to Julie Christie had made him want to become a writer. And who could blame him? Julie Christie in that fur hat would inspire anyone.

Andrew might not have the Sharif moustache but he definitely has the writer’s chops as was evident from his reading of The Life and Opinions of Maf the dog and his friend Marilyn Monroe, his just-published novel and the recent recipient of many a glowing review. Narrated by Monroe’s dog, Maf, we heard this feisty pooch wax lyrical on the top ten dogs of all time, a roll call that included Lassie, Snoopy and Virginia Woolf’s Flush. We were then treated to a dog’s eye view of Marilyn Monroe and Carson McCullers sipping cocktails at the Ritz while bitching about Truman Capote. Wickedly brilliant stuff.

Inspired by Ferlinghetti’s City Lights bookshop, the infamous Olympia Press and McSweeney’s, To Hell are on a mission to re-ignite independent publishing in the UK. With the next To Hell with the Lighthouse promising further literary treats, I for one will be ensconced in the cute leather banquette close to the stage, cocktail in hand, ready to be wowed once again. Come along and join the revolution. To Hell with Publishing!

Guest post by Kerry Ryan