As some of you already know, a couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to receive an invite from Helen Lewis at Literally PR, asking me to attend the book launch for a new collection of poetry called Filthy Creatures by David Williams.
The launch was set to be held at The Globe in London, a setting that’s famous for its rich history and association with William Shakespeare, and there was free wine all evening - how could I not accept?
So sure enough, me and Laura put our post-Glastonbury hangovers aside and hopped on a train to London after work, and boy, am I glad that we did. It was epic, the best book launch that I’ve ever been to without a shadow of a doubt, and the only one that promised unlimited free booze and delivered it!
It was great to meet like-minded people, too - there were loads of cool people there, from journalists and photographers to fellow bloggers and the literati, authors and speakers like David himself, who we got a chance to meet - he signed my copy of his book, too!
L-R: Dane, Laura, David Williams © Fabien Ferrari
Speaking of which, we were all given goody bags with complimentary copies of Filthy Creatures and t-shirts to accompany them, which I wore at the start of the video above. I was capturing footage on my handheld camera and feeling small and insignificant next to some of the professionals, who carried cameras which were twice the size of my head.
We also spoke to David’s sons, and one of them is working on a fascinating smartphone application that can best be described as Shazam, but for plants. We had a good chat with him, as well as with Fabien Ferrari, a photographer who kindly gave us permission to use some of his photos in this article.
Compere Des O’Connor with an owl © Fabien Ferrari
Highlights of the evening included readings of David’s work, both from the author himself and from the compere, a guy called Des O’Connor who, despite the name, was not the ageing celebrity that you might remember from way back when. You can catch a bit of it in the video above, and we’ll be reviewing Filthy Creatures over on the main site soon enough.
Another highlight was the zoo of exotic animals - possibly a bad idea to introduce wild creatures in to a room full of drunk journalists, but an experience that nobody will forget in a hurry. I got to hold a Burmese python, and we also saw a tarantula, an owl, an armadillo, a meerkat and a baby crocodile!
David Williams with the Burmese python © Fabien Ferrari
All in all it was an excellent evening, and I’d like to say thanks again to David and to Helen from Literally PR for inviting us and for hosting the event. The book is available now on Amazon, and you can also keep up with David and Oort Publications on Facebook and Twitter.
You can also keep up-to-date with SocialBookshelves.com on Facebook and Twitter, or come and say hello on our book discussion forums. Oh, and if you want to invite me to one of your literary events, feel free - you can get hold of me here! I’ll see you soon.
