The night before hosting the awards at  Charleston, a Bloomsbury Home and Garden,  two nights before Nantucket I read at The Irish Literature Festival (pic on right)  in Bangor Northern Ireland by invite of Colin Bateman. The day before Bangor I recorded new work in London at the studios of Franklynlane Films. This is for Denys Baptiste touring their collaboration Now Is The Time next week. Then we filmed outside on the roof tops of Tottenham. Two days earlier  I  received a standing ovation at Imperial College London  from The Association of Family Therapists  conference for an hour long reading that was scheduled for twenty minutes.   I  went straight to Imperial College London from Scotland where I hosted Canongate Books 40^th Anniversary.  They are the greatest publisher in Britain in my book. They must be, they published me and licensed that other guy – Obama.   I have been with them for fifteen years at least.  Also this month I finished the first draft for a  commission of public art  in  London.  It will be announced soon.   The day before Canongate I sang Gil Scott Heron’s Johannesburg  in London at a celebration  in honour of   Nelson Mandela in the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. And for  the previous week I was in Cove park Glasgow for Fuel Theatre.   One day  before cove park at the end of a Torchlit parade through the city of Hull at The Freedom Festival I read to three and an half thousand silent listening citizens  Martin Luther Kings eighteen minute I have a Dream Speech.Two days before  Hull  I attended Shetlands Islands  at Shetland Literature  Festival and hung out  with some cool people  particularly David Knopfer of Dire Straits.   I began September on Shetland Island and ended on the island of Nantucket .   I don’t think of islands as isolated places.  Quite the opposite.

pics:  top –  signing books in Bangor. Middle –   Canongate 40th  in Edinburgh. Bottom –  reading Martin Luther Kings speech in Hull. Below -1.  Shingai Shoniwa of  Noisettes  adn me backstage at Queen Elizabeth Hall.    2.Ben Okri and me at Queen Elizabeth Hall in Honour of mandela  2.