Reading

Let's read Modern Standard Arabic together and help each other. This get-together continues weekly. Please disregard attendee numbers, as most members come without registering here. There is no charge for this time together.

Dear Armchair Detectives, Your missions for this April is to solve these three mysteries. You will be assisted by a dective in each case, but will you be able to find the solution to each crime in time?... We shall see! Peril at End House by Agatha Christie The Double Turn by Carol Carnac Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers

Do you have a dream you keep postponing? In this practical, science‑based workshop, Gabriela will show you how to turn that dream into a real, structured project — one that finally moves from intention to action. Using a brain‑friendly method designed to work with your natural motivation (not against it), you’ll learn how to: • gain clarity about what you truly want • break your dream into doable steps • overcome overwhelm and procrastination • build momentum with a simple, repeatable process Gabriela brings over 20 years of experience in communication and project management, and she trained directly in the CHILD Method, created by a clinical psychologist. Her approach is warm, accessible, and grounded in real‑life results. You’ll leave the workshop with: • a clear starting point • a personalised mini‑plan • the confidence to take your next step A message with the connection link will be sent to you after registration. Click here to get a free ticket: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1984716902683?aff=oddtdtcreator If you have any questions, feel free to reach out: **dbb.movement@gmail.com**

A free event by London Debate. You need to reserve your ticket: [https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/stay-out-of-the-iran-war-should-the-uk-get-involved-victoria-debates-tickets-1985176395037?](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/stay-out-of-the-iran-war-should-the-uk-get-involved-victoria-debates-tickets-1985176395037?) Why Are We Having This Debate? With the 2026 USA-Isreali led war on Iran further escalating with more US troops set to arrive in the region shortly, one question is being asked of all UK politicians. Should we support our historic allies in what could be a new Gulf War or focus on British interests and troubles at home. So We Ask - If you were Prime Minister... What would you do? Articles [https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/mar/11/starmer-attacks-badenoch-and-farage-over-iran-war-support-u-turns-at-raucous-pmqs](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/mar/11/starmer-attacks-badenoch-and-farage-over-iran-war-support-u-turns-at-raucous-pmqs) [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c4gqjyk0vx3t](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c4gqjyk0vx3t) [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2dyz6p3weo](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2dyz6p3weo) Come along and have your vote! 3v3 panel debate where members explore the strongest arguments for a given topic. A debate should tell the audience what they need to know and not just what the speakers think. If you feel the same way, then we want to meet you. Agenda 18:30 - 19:00 Arrivals Grab a drink, order food and get to know our voting audience. 19:00 - 19:15 Event Introductions Meeting our teams, and the all important pre-debate audience chat & talking points followed by our starting vote. 19:25 - 20:00 Debate Begins 20:00 - 20:15 Break Grab a cheeky drink and your last chance to order food 20:15 - 20:55 Audience Q&A 20:55 - 21:05 Summary Speeches and Final Vote 21:05 - 21:30 Outro and post-debate social Where the fun truly begins. Hang out Persian Culture members. Make friends, debate ideas and meet new people. Are you interested in reading fiction and non-fiction in French Spanish, and English? -www.meetup.com/gaia-books -www.meetup.com/gaia-libros -www.meetup.com/gaia-livres -Instagram: @persian_culture_ -Persian Culture Whatsapp group: https://chat.whatsapp.com/EZk35ZbJZ6W6wwyHyuxoS2

This is a live session at The Mitre in Greenwich. Please note that Katie Lumsden will be hosting this session. (katie.lumsden@googlemail.com) Please send extracts and address any queries directly to her. Also, please mail her when you sign up unless you are sure that she already has your e-mail address. The purpose of this meeting is to provide and receive critique on submitted extracts of members' creative writing, whether they're working on a novel, screenplay, poetry, a memoir or short story, etc. We share our extracts via email ahead of the meeting to give us all a chance to read the work in our own time and reflect upon it so as to be able to provide useful critique. If you want to submit an extract mail me at gpatrick66@hotmail.com to book a slot. If you are new to the group we ask that you participate in at least two of the Wednesday critiquing sessions before you submit work for review so that you get to know us and have a good understanding of how we operate. This will help you to get the most from a critique of your own work. Extracts should be approx 3,000 words and the full document (extract plus blurbs, questions etc) should not exceed 3,500 words in total. Extracts must be mailed to Katie Lumsden (katie.lumsden@googlemail.com) at the latest by 9pm on the Saturday before the session so that she can share your work with the rest of the group. We have a limit of 4 extracts per session to give adequate time to review work properly. Feel free to give guidance on any specific areas on which you would like feedback. E.g. Plot, pacing, structure or character development etc. (If you have not received the extracts by the Sunday before the session, mail her.) The group is friendly and relaxed, so please don't feel nervous about sharing your work! We will normally review extracts according to the order in which they are sent to me but if you need a particular slot let me know when you submit your extract and we will try to accommodate that. Please note that all phones MUST be switched to silent mode for the duration of the meeting.

Our first 'class cultural trip' was really fun so I'm carrying on the series and we're going to keep exploring the British Museum. The idea is we'll meet in the cafe at the British Museum, and then choose which part of the museum we want to explore. We'll walk around it, stopping to look at things we find interesting. I'll help you with the vocabulary you need to talk about what you can see. At the end we'll go back to the cafe to summarise what we've learnt and do a little vocabulary test to see what you can remember from your visit! If you are late, don't worry too much, because we will stay in the cafe until everyone has arrived and then start exploring the museum. I hope to make 'cultural visit classes' to museums/ exhibitions/ galleries into a regular event so let me know which places you are interested in. I plan to choose places that have free entry. I need a minimum of 2 students to run this Meetup. Maximum 5 students so everyone gets a good chance to speak.

In the digital age💻📡📱, do you still like getting a physical book to read? Where do you buy them? Amazon? Waterstone? Blackstone? How about join us for a bookshop crawl, let's try to find some hidden gems of independent bookshops. (Or just tag along for a chat😁) For this west London tour, we will start from Turnham Green Station, walking Chiswick High Road and King Street towards Hammersmith Station. We will do 5 bookshops📚📚📚! Don't worry, it's not a marathon, don't feel under any obligation to finish all the bookshops. The two hour time is just a guidance, some shops take longer and some are less. If you ever want to stay in one shop for longer (I know, been there, done that😂) feel free to do so, you can join us at other shops. (See itinerary below) Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with any of the shops, so you are not obliged to buy any books, just get whatever you like. *** 📚💃🏼 📖💃🏿☕️ ITINERARY ☕️💃🏾🍷💃🏻🍴📚 We will all meet up at Turnham Green Station, don't worry if you are late, join us in along the walks. Then the tour shall begin! 1: Oxfam Bookshop Address: 90 Turnham Green Terrace, Chiswick, London W4 1QN Comment: Always try to have one on the tour, staple for second-hand books. 2: Bookcase London Address: 268 Chiswick High Rd., Chiswick, London W4 1PD Comment: (First time doing west London, will update in the future) 3: Foster Books Address: 14-16 Bury Pl, London WC1A 2JL Comment: (First time doing west London, will update in the future) 4: The Small Library Company Address: 40 Chiswick Ln, Chiswick, London W4 2JQ Comment: (First time doing west London, will update in the future) 5: Everybody Reads Address: 6 Chiswick High Rd., Chiswick, London W4 1TH Comment: (First time doing west London, will update in the future) 6: Books for Amnesty Address: 175 King St, London W6 9JT Comment: Another chained charity bookshop, very much like Oxfam. Generally we finish here, then for people who want to stay we usually find somewhere to have food and further discussions in the afternoon. *** Wow, you made it, hopefully you have found some books that will make you happy🎈🎉✨. For people who likes to have more socials or talk more about books (or just to show off your purchases😆), we can find some place for a cup of coffee or a late lunch. *** Google map link for the bookshops: (TBA)

***"In this complex and terrible development which has carried the epoch of class struggles toward new conditions, the proletariat of the industrial countries has completely lost the affirmation of its autonomous perspective and also, in the last analysis, its illusions, but not its being. It has not been suppressed. It remains irreducibly in existence within the intensified alienation of modern capitalism[.]"*** **\- Guy Debord\, *The Society of the Spectacle*** Welcome back readers! By popular request, we're bringing back (for a new generation of LMRG readers) an old favourite: the always-relevant Guy Debord and his masterful *Society of the Spectacle*. This is meeting two, where we'll be reading the fourth, fifth and sixth chapters. Find the classic text here: https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/debord/society.htm Or an alternative, possibly more readable translation here: [https://files.libcom.org/files/The%20Society%20of%20the%20Spectacle%20Annotated%20Edition.pdf](https://files.libcom.org/files/The%20Society%20of%20the%20Spectacle%20Annotated%20Edition.pdf) Often maligned as theorymaxxed nonsense but little-read, this slim volume is certainly dense with ideas - all of which carry as much relevance today as those half-forgotten postwar years when the Situationist International made its mark on the world, if not more. With the rise of the Internet and social media, the decline of literacy and the closing of the mass mind, the endless doom-loop of doomscrolling and bed-rotting, increasingly performative protest, the commodification of everything, the Epstein-approved culture war, and the theatre of spectacular cruelty that is imperialist colonial policy from Gaza to Venezuela, we really are living an age where everything that was once directly participated in has passed into representation. Every hand-grip one searches for to get some kind of grasp on the world seems to be a mirage; "participation" in anything, from politics to culture, has been reduced to fandom - limited to nothing more than expressing approval or disapproval through totally mediated social media platforms. Above it all stands an utterly corrupt, irresponsible elite class more and more transparent in how it relishes in conspiratorial play, power-games with unlimited stakes for us and no consequences for them. Such a world where power wears a shit-eating grin and keeps us off our balance by endlessly[ "flooding the zone"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_the_zone) (in Steve Bannon's terms) with distractions so intricate they short-circuit the collective brain is exactly what Debord not only predicted but described in frightening detail, with more than a little bit of humour. So let's dig in and find out: just what can we do to unplug from the spectacle? Is the spectacle even un-plug-from-able? Debord haters, cope and seethe: as a much more orthodox Marxist than he ever gets credit for, there really are some strategies in here. We just need to be creative. Take care and happy reading!

Join this last (for now!) reading of the Merton Book Club when we'll discuss a great American classic. On The Road, the most famous of Jack Kerouac's works, is not only the soul of the Beat movement and literature, but one of the most important novels of the century. Like nearly all of Kerouac's writing, On The Road is thinly fictionalised autobiography, filled with a cast made of Kerouac's real life friends, lovers and fellow travellers. Narrated by Sal Paradise, one of Kerouac's alter-egos, this cross-country bohemian odyssey not only influenced writing in the years since its 1957 publication but penetrated into the deepest levels of American thought and culture. -- Acton Lane Look forward to discussing this with you at the Metronome!

Join us for an informal and welcoming book club meetup where we’ll be discussing** Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. **Whether you’ve finished the book, are halfway through, or just curious, you’re invited. This is a relaxed space to share thoughts, hear different perspectives, and connect with others who enjoy reading. No pressure—just good conversation and an opportunity to meet new people. If you’d like a refresher before joining, you can: Watch the film adaptation (Charly, 1968), available on common streaming platforms or rental services Read a summary here: https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/algernon/summary/

In this event, we will discuss about a science or philosophy book chosen by London Science and Philosophy Book Club. The attendees will be divided into groups and each of them will focus on a chapter in the book. This month we will discuss about a fascinating book called Warriors and Worriers by Joyce F. Benenson. If you haven't read the book, it's no problem. I will bring you up to speed with the discussion materials. We will meet in a nice lounge area at 6 p.m for introductions. Please come on time so you will not miss out on valuable discussion midway. If you end up in the waitlist, feel free to show up. Book Description: The question of exactly what sex differences exist and whether they have a biological foundation has been one of our culture's favorite enduring discussions. It should. After a baby is born, a parent's first concern is for its physical health. The next concern is its sex. Only in the most modern societies does sex not virtually guarantee the type of future life a new human being will have. Even in modern societies, one's sex usually plays a large role in the path a life follows. Scientists have published thousands of papers on the subject, with the general conclusion being that men and women are mostly the same, whatever differences exist have been socialized, and what differences exist have to do with women bearing children and men being physically stronger. In Warriors and Worriers, psychologist Joyce Benenson presents a new theory of sex differences, based on thirty years of research with young children and primates around the world. Her innovative theory focuses on how men and women stay alive. Benenson draws on a fascinating array of studies and stories that explore the ways boys and men deter their enemies, while girls and women find assistants to aid them in coping with vulnerable children and elders. This produces two social worlds for each sex which sets humans apart from most other primate species. Human males form cooperative groups that compete against out-groups, while human females exclude other females in their quest to find mates, female family members to invest in their children, and keep their own hearts ticking. In the process, Benenson turns upside down the familiar wisdom that women are more sociable than men and that men are more competitive than women. Agenda: 6 p.m to 6:30 p.m: Introduction and Socializing 6:30 p.m to 9:30 p.m: Book Discussion 9:30 p.m to late night: Drinks, Dinner or Feel free to go home.

We will revise the basic grammar of the Arabic language. The book, **Arabic Verbs & Essentials of Grammar**, by Jane Wightwick (Third Edition), can be purchased from Foyles or Waterstones or online. [https://www.hatchards.co.uk/book/arabic-verbs-and-essentials-of-grammar-third-edition/jane-wightwick/9781260030990](https://www.hatchards.co.uk/book/arabic-verbs-and-essentials-of-grammar-third-edition/jane-wightwick/9781260030990) We will cover chapter one. Level: beginners, but you must already be able to read the alphabet. This is a monthly event. Note: to make the most of this session, you should read the chapter before hand. Anything you do not understand, we can discuss during the session

Welcome, readers! Our April read is **_Martyr!_ by Kaveh Akbar.** The story follows a young Iranian American poet grappling with grief, addiction, and the aching question of what makes a life meaningful. Drawn into an unexpected friendship with a terminally ill artist, he begins to confront faith, love, and the seduction of self-destruction. Lyrical, darkly funny, and emotionally piercing, the novel wrestles with beauty and despair in equal measure. It’s a story about longing—to be seen, to be forgiven, and to matter. Looking forward to discussing with everyone! We will meet at Zaftig Brewing Co in their event room in the back. We are welcome to bring in our own food, but **drinks must be purchased at the bar.** Happy reading! 📖

Welcome, readers! Our May read is **_Kindred_ by Octavia E. Butler.** The story follows Dana, a Black woman living in 1976 California, who is suddenly pulled back to a Maryland plantation before the Civil War. She learns her survival is tied to a white slaveholder’s son. Forced to move between centuries, she must endure the brutal realities of slavery while fighting to hold on to her identity. Tense, intimate, and unforgettable, Kindred explores how the past refuses to stay buried. Looking forward to discussing with everyone! We will meet at Zaftig Brewing Co in their event room in the back. We are welcome to bring in our own food, but **drinks must be purchased at the bar.** Happy reading! 📖

Join us for lunch/tea at Asterisk Supper Club to discuss our May book "Under the Oak Tree" by Suji Kim Lady Maximilian is the daughter of the powerful Duke Croyso, but she is rarely allowed outside her family’s sprawling castle for fear that her stutter will tarnish their noble name. When she is forced to marry Sir Riftan, a lowborn knight caught in one of her father’s schemes, Maxi doesn’t dare hope for happiness, let alone love. Her stumbling communication and his gruff manner sour their relationship before it can begin, and Riftan leaves without a word the morning after their vows are exchanged. Now, three years after their disastrous wedding night, Riftan has returned as a war hero. To Maxi’s surprise, despite rumors that he was offered marriage to Princess Agnes, a beautiful and renowned sorceress, Riftan still wants Maxi for his wife. And when he comes to claim her, his longing becomes a desire that bewilders Maxi, even as she is overcome by the scorching heat that Riftan’s presence ignites within her. As she learns to navigate the intricacies of her new life, Maxi will find herself and her courage, and discover that she is anything but powerless.