Readings by the River, The Wapping Project Bookshop

The Wapping Project Bookshop is the tiniest of venues, but for this autumn and winter it will be hosting some big literary names. Sitting in the shadow of the former hydraulic power station turned trendy restaurant and arts venue that is The Wapping Project , the Bookshop is quite literally a small glass house lined with books. 

And this is the snug, intimate setting for Readings by the River, an enticing weekly programme of literary conversations curated and hosted by former literary editor of The Times Erica Wagner.  Although the diminutive nature of the glass house means that tickets are bound to be in short supply, the appeal of this quirky literary salon is the chance for people to get up close and personal with their literary heroes. Unlike your average event where audiences are talked at from a distance, this is more like settling down with the author in their garden shed for a friendly tête-à-tête over a glass of wine.

The line-up includes a diverse selection of authors, from poets to historians to scientists, but for many the main draws of the season will be the novelists. Primarily perhaps Jeannette Winterson, who is an irresistibly warm and riveting speaker. Her latest book is in fact a memoir, Why Be Happy When You Could be Normal?, which paints a disarmingly candid and often hilarious portrait of her extraordinary adoptive mother. Lionel Shriver, too, will no doubt be popular. Known for unflinchingly tackling society’s ills in her novels, such as gun crime in We Need to Talk About Kevin and the obesity epidemic in her latest, Big Brother, she is sharp as a tack and insightful on every issue she broaches, and is bound to leave your mind buzzing. 

Also on the bill are plenty of other impressive figures, including Renaissance studies expert Lisa Jardine and leading neurosurgeon and memoirist Henry Marsh . The nights may be drawing in and Wapping may seem a little out of the way, but these rare gems will be worth the effort.

Ticket price: £6

Address and map:  Wapping Hydraulic Power Station, Wapping Wall, London E1W 3SG

Nearest tube: Shadwell