I have been going to Book Slam for years - before I even started the blog, hence not writing about it as I normally only write about a place the first time I go. But I feel it is right to acknowledge this legend of a night that is still going strong, a decade after I first heard of it.
Bookslam is a fairly prosaic name for it - it's a literary night that's fairly fast paced. They routinely have pretty well known authors come along and read short excerpts from their books, and pepper this with spoken word, or comedy or a musical interlude.
It's a great way to see authors you admire in the flesh (with an opportunity to get a signed copy of their book of course) and I've seen Irvine Welsh and David Simon there to name but two.
On the musical side they tend to favour unestablished acts but they've got a great eye for picking people who have potential - Sivu and Eska are two I remember hearing on Radio 1 not long after seeing them at Book Slam.
And occasionally they do a special event like a collaboration with Bombay Sapphire, or Penguin to bring a bigger version of the event, which might have talks rather than readings.
It's a great night out that's a bit different.