Please see below for:

• A reminder of next Monday’s RSL event celebrating the poetry of John Clare, with Adam Foulds, now on the Man Booker Prize shortlist
• Details of our forthcoming event at the Royal Society with Tracy Chevalier
• Information on what our new website will offer
• News of other forthcoming literary events which might be of interest to you

After decades of obscurity, John Clare is today regarded as one of the great poets of the nineteenth century. Ronald Blythe describes him as ‘England’s most articulate village voice’, and many now consider his work on a par with that of Keats, Shelley and Wordsworth. Jonathan Bate’s groundbreaking biography of Clare (2003) won both the Hawthornden Prize and the James Tait Black Biography Award. Adam Foulds, former Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year and winner of last year’s Costa Poetry Prize, is now on the shortlist list for the Man Booker Prize with The Quickening Maze, his novel about Clare’s time in an asylum in Epping Forest. The two reflect on why the 'peasant poet' seems to be striking a chord with an increasingly wide audience; whether it is possible to get closer to a figure from the past through biographical study or through fiction; and what is the relationship between madness and genius. Their discussion is interspersed with readings from the poetry of John Clare by Tom Durham, an actor who specializes in the work of poets, and is chaired by Leonie Rushforth, head of English at St Paul’s Girls’ School, and herself a poet.

The talk will be held, as usual, in the Kenneth Clark Lecture Theatre, at the Courtauld Institute, Somerset House, (Strand entrance), WC2. The lecture starts at 7pm, with doors open from 6pm.

Mary Anning, an early nineteenth-century fossil collector, discovered the first British pre-dinosaur fossils, such as ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs, on the rocky shores of Lyme Regis. Tracy Chevalier's latest book, Remarkable Creatures, explores how the results of Mary Anning's findings eventually paved the way for Darwin and his theory of evolution. Tracy Chevalier discusses her new book with Dr Richard Fortey, who is currently working on a book about organisms which have survived from deep geological time. Their conversation will be chaired by Dr Alice Roberts.

Admission free - no tickets or advance booking. Doors will open at 5.45pm. Seats allocated on a first-come-first-served basis. This event will be broadcast live at royalsociety.org/live.

The Royal Society, 6-9 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AG
Tel: 020 7451 2683
Email: events@royalsociety.com

We are proud to announce the launch of the RSL’s new website. The site offers more content and some exciting new features which we hope you will enjoy. As of next week you will be able to:

• Listen to an archive of recordings of our past talks and discussions.
• Read biographies of our newly-elected Fellows.
• Read selected articles and obituaries from the Review. The current edition, and back issues of the RSL Review, are now available to purchase direct from the site.
• And of course you can still find details of all RSL events, awards and other activities.

To celebrate the 150th anniversary of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the Royal Society of Medicine is staging an exhibition: “Conan Doyle and James Bell – The real Sherlock Holmes”. The exhibition looks at the relationship between Conan Doyle and his teacher of clinical surgery Joseph Bell, who Conan Doyle revealed was a major inspiration in his creation of Sherlock Holmes. The exhibition is free of charge and runs from 1 September 2009 to 29 January 2010.
 
Royal Society of Medicine, 1 Wimpole Street, London W1G 0AE
Tel: 020 7290 2995

The unknown life of Alan Clark, celebrated diarist, womanizer, Tory MP, and controversial minister in Mrs. Thatcher’s government.

All talks take place at Daunt Books, 83 Marylebone High Street
Time: 7:00pm
Tickets: £5 (including wine)
Phone: 020 7224 2295
Email: talks@dauntbooks.co.uk

Play adapted from Samuel Beckett's novel L'Innommable | adapted and performed by Rufus | mise-en-scène by Manon Rony | 60 mins | IN FRENCH

Rufus, a French theatre and cinema comedian for thirty years, is known for his austere, dreamy and deadpan performances.  A fetish actor in films by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Rufus notably starred in Delicatessen, The City of Lost Children, Amelie and A Very Long Engagement.

Followed by a Q&A with Rufus

£7 / concessions £5
Double bill with ticket for Train de vie film £12 / concessions £10
Booking essential

To book please call the box office on 020 7073 1350

The Times Literary Supplement (TLS) is the only weekly literary paper in the world. For more than a hundred years, the TLS has sought and found what is best in our literary culture, providing a unique pleasure - as well as a necessary resource to readers around the world. A mix of fine writing, literary discoveries and incisive debate has ensured its status as mandatory reading for many of today's top writers and thinkers. The TLS is the only weekly literary paper covering literature, history, biography, science, poetry, the arts and much more. For more information visit: www.the-tls.co.uk. From only £23 a quarter, have the TLS delivered to your door every week. Call 01858 438 781 quoting code W026 or visit www.subscription.co.uk/tls/w026