Pages Presents: a series of Hackney events open to the public

Pages of Hackney invites you to a series of readings, discussions, debates, screenings, art exhibitions, performances and parties. These events are well-attended so do rsvp to Eleanor here to ensure your place.

Pages events are finished for the summer. Do check out our initial list for the autumn in the right hand column, and watch this space for more to come! If you'd like to join the mailing list for events, just email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Wednesday 30th June at 7pm

Mike Gerber talks about his book Jazz Jews.

Tickets - £3

From early jazz to the dance bands of the swing era, from bebop to jazz-rock and the avant-garde, as the composers of jazz standards, and as impresarios, record producers, performers and the founders of jazz labels, Jews have been and are there, wherever jazz is performed, in whatever country. This book explores the role of Jews in breaking the colour bar in American jazz, in using jazz as an instrument against apartheid and Soviet oppression, and as a means of survival in Nazi death camps. Jazz Jews also explores the phenomenon of "Jewish jazz", from the Jazz Age to the present day, including extensive coverage of Israeli jazz. Mike Gerber has interviewed everyone that matters - Jew and Non-Jews, black and white, including one of the last interviews with Artie Shaw.

Tuesday 6th July at 7pm

I R Charles talks about her book Under a Hackney Sky

Tickets - £3

Seeking adventure, I R Charles moved to Italy but became homesick for the wonderful weirdness and diversity of London. She trained as a journalist and spent a few years writing about music, sewers and taxes before listening to her gut and writing for herself. She has published a collection of poetry and short stories and is at present working on a TV script.

About the book: After a violent attack, Ruth has to travel back to her life. Gay neighbours and singing black belt sisters; melancholic drunks and love drunk shop assistants; mysterious greengrocers and an old, wise street person, change Ruth's life and help her find the person she 'lost' a year ago. In Under a Hackney Sky, the streets of Hackney have something for everyone - whether they want it or not.

Thursday 8th July from 6-9pm

Private View - Luisa Alpalhao's exhibition, 30 Days of Storytelling

Exhibition runs from 8th July to 31st July

Many stories, written by several different people, have been collected over the last year and it's now time to share [30 days of storytelling] Part 1 with all of you.

Please join us for the Private View of local architect, Luisa Alpalhao's show. Many of you will be familiar with Luisa's beautiful and detailed cards, which have been on sale at the shop since we opened. In addition to branching out in a new direction with her exhibition, Luisa will have many old and new card designs on sale throughout the summer.

Wednesday 14th July at 7pm

Poets, Polymaths and Pleasure-Daughters: Drinking Arak off an Ayatollah's Beard

Tickets - £3

Nicholas Jubber talks about his book Drinking Arak off an Ayatollah's Beard. To better understand the cultural issues and paradoxes facing Iranians and Afghans today, the author travels from the underground dance parties of Tehran to the opium dens of Afghanistan's Helmand province. Along the way he discovers traces of a vibrant, pre-Islamic Persian culture still alive and well.

Tuesday 20th July at 7pm

Southern Africa: Past and Future

Tickets - £3

Between 11 June and 11 July, the Republic of South Africa is in the spotlight of world attention as the host nation for the World Cup. But the more typical media portrayal of Africa is one of crisis, emergency and failure. Little attention is paid to the success stories - stable nation-states with growing economies and functioning democracies - and the rather different sets of problems they face.

Mark Hannam and Jo Wolff will talk about a number of recent books, which seek to explain some of Africa's past and present problems, and which offer suggestions about what might be done to make a better future. They will refer to several books, including Adam Hochschild's King Leopold's Ghost, Richard Dowden's Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles, Paul Collier's The Bottom Billion, and Dimbisa Moyo's Dead Aid.

They will also talk about their own, recently published book Southern Africa: 2020 Vision - based on a conference held in Windhoek, Namibia last summer - which takes a look at public policy priorities for Southern Africa over the next decade.

Mark Hannam lives in Hackney. He is Chair of Fair Finance, a London based microfinance company, and is also a member of the Board of Governor of the University of East London.

Jo Wolff lives live in Hackney (well, EC1...). He is Professor Philosophy at University College, London and Director of the UCL Centre for Philosophy, Justice and Health.

Please do book with Eleanor or David at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (except for the Art Openings) to ensure a seat at these events.