Stuart Taylor took some lovely photos of the event:

Listen to the BookJam on SoundCloud:

The Writers

Paul Bassett Davies has written books and stories, and has worked for TV, radio, film and stage. He founded the multimedia company Crystal Theatre, and his one-man shows won awards at the Edinburgh Festival. Radio and TV includes Spitting Image; Rory Bremner; Jasper Carrot; Jeremy Hardy, and his own BBC radio sitcom. Radio plays have featured Bill Nighy, David Hemmings and Alison Steadman. He wrote the screenplay for the feature film The Magic Roundabout. Paul’s first novel, Utter Folly topped the Amazon humorous fiction chart in 2012 and has been optioned for TV. His new novel is Dead Writers in Rehab. He writes a popular blog: www.thewritertype.com @thewritertype

Hannah Vincent is the author of Alarm Girl, about a young girl’s experience of grief steeped in the dry heat of a South African summer. When 11-year old Indigo and her older brother Robin arrive in South Africa from England to stay with their father, they find a luxurious lifestyle that is a world away from their modest existence back in England. But, uneasy in the foreign landscape and confused by the family’s silence surrounding her mother’s recent death, Indigo is left to construct her own version of events. Hannah is a playwright whose plays have been performed at the Royal Court Theatre, the National Theatre Studios and on BBC Radio 4. She is originally from South London and now lives in Brighton. @hannahvincent22

Marcus O’Dair is the author of Different Every Time: The Authorised Biography of Robert Wyatt. He has written for publications The Guardian, The Independent and Jazzwise and is a regular studio guest on Jazz on 3 (BBC Radio 3) and the Freakzone (BBC 6Music). He is one half of Grasscut, who have released two acclaimed albums on Ninja Tune and performed across Europe. He also co-leads the Popular Music course at Middlesex University. @marcusodair

Tracey Miller is a campaigning single mum from South London who is passionate about urging teenagers not to follow her own path into gang life. A former member of the Younger 28s, a notorious gang that terrorised the postcodes around Brixton, she escaped a troubled family life only to immerse herself in a street life of likking and linking. After serving time in HM Prison Holloway, she turned her life around to put her gangland past behind her. Still living in Brixton, she has dedicated her life to spreading her message of reform and to helping youths in similar situations. Tracey has just released her first book, Sour: My Story. @ExGangGirl

Dreda Say Mitchell is a novelist, broadcaster, journalist, motivational speaker and freelance education consultant. Dreda was named one of Britain’s 50 Remarkable Women by Lady Geek in association with Nokia. The author of six novels, her debut, Running Hot, was awarded The CWA’s John Creasey Dagger in 2005, the first time a Black British author has been given this honour. She is a frequent guest on the television, including The Papers, BBC News Channel, The Best Crossbow Review Show, Newsnight, Daybreak and Canada’s Sun News Live. She has presented Radio 4’s Open Book and been a guest on many other radio shows, including Front Row, Saturday Review and Woman’s Hour. She was the 2011 chair of the Harrogate Crime Fiction Festival, Europe’s biggest crime festival. Her commitment and passion for raising the life chances of working class children in education and her work in prisons and YOIs has been called inspirational and life changing. Her new book is Vendetta has just been released. www.dredasaymitchell.com @DredaMitchell

Adam Stephenson has spent the last few years rattling around London playing many roles; from Zombie to tour-guide, barman to tea merchant and now finds himself child-wrangler in a North London primary school. So far his writing has won a horror prize for a sweet short story about a little girl’s friendship with a serial killer and he has written for the Edinburgh Festival a number of times without yet going. He loves performing and has been to many book events, from the comedy celebration at Dreamcatcher Magazine to the Middlesex University Literary Festival alongside Iain Banks. www.grubstreetlodger.blogspot.co.uk

Andrew Mueller is an author, journalist and broadcaster, who also plays guitar and sings with incipient alt.country phenomenon The Blazing Zoos. He’ll be reading from his latest book, It’s Too Late To Die Young Now, a memoir of mis-spending his youth in the music press. @andrew_mueller

Kit de Waal writes short stories and flash fiction and has just finished her first novel. She has an MA in Creative Writing. She is published in various anthologies including The Fish Prize 2011 & 2012; The Sea in Birmingham 2013; Final Chapters 2013, West Midlands Odyssey 2014,  Bath Short Story Anthology 2014, Bridport Prize Anthology 2014 and works as an editor of non-fiction.  Her short story ‘Adrift at the Athena’ will be broadcast on Radio 4  Book at Bedtime in November 2014.  @MandydeWaal

Darren Lee lives in London and has had stories published in the Lover’s Lies and Fifty Stories For Pakistan anthologies. Several of his stories have appeared in the pages of Open Pen magazine and have also been performed at London’s Liars’ League salon. In 2011 he won copies of the Booker long list in a Twitter fiction competition, thus enabling him to legitimately claim that he has won a Booker prize for his writing.  @DarrenLeeTwit

Jacob Stringer is the author of 99% Darkness: a post-Occupy novel: The protests are all over. You haven’t won. Does any hope remain?  @radiagonalist 

Iphgenia Baal is a writer and film-maker. She is the author of The Hardy Tree and Gentle Art, published by Trolley Books. She has had original texts published by Art & Music, International Times, The Milan Review, Nervemeter, Strike!, The White Review, and others. As a journo, she has written for Art in America, Dazed & Confused and NME. Filmography, and other short work can be found at www.iphgeniabaal.com

Details, details…

Doors: 7.30pm, readers start at 8.00pm

Our venue is the Hootananny at 95 Effra Road, London SW2 1DF. It’s a large pub, with a performance space that can hold 600 people. It also provides cooked food. Closest tube is Brixton, and buses 2, 37, 436 and more!