Presented by Friends of Carnegie Library

Tuesday, June 11 · 7 - 8:30pm, at the Library (or online)

From the arrival of the first music publishers in the early 20th century to the 21st-century gentrification threatening to erode this remarkable musical heritage, it was where The Beatles hung out when they first arrived in London and where The Rolling Stones recorded their first album, it was the home of the designers of Pink Floyd album covers, and later it attracted the likes of Acid Jazz Records to the street, as well as specialist music bookshop Helter Skelter and legendary live-music venue The 12 Bar Club.

And with the rock’n’roll came the sex and drugs, not to mention death. The darker side of Denmark Street includes gangster-run clubs and a largely forgotten arson attack that claimed 37 lives.

Join author and journalist Peter Watts and the Friends of Carnegie Library to discuss the musicians' and the music fans’ street of dreams.

Please register to reserve a place and help with planning for this event.

View the livestream for up to 30 days on the Carnegie Library Facebook page. (Go to the video page - no need to sign in)

Ruskin Park: Sylvia, Me and the BBC

Tuesday 14 May, 7 - 8:30pm at the library

Rory knew he was the child of a brief love affair between two unmarried BBC employees, but until his mother died and he found a previously unknown file labelled ‘For Rory’ he had no idea of its beginning or ending, or why his peculiarly isolated childhood had so tested the bond between him and his mother.

This is an emotionally gripping account of what Rory uncovered in the papers, letters and diaries; a relationship between two romantics and the restrictive forces of post-war respectability and prejudice.

Rory did not meet his father until much later, in adulthood. Until then his life was bound to the one-bedroom flat he shared with his mother in Ruskin Park.

Rory Cellan-Jones was the BBC’s principal technology correspondent until 2021. He now writes an influential Substack column on medical innovation and tech.

Admission free

Please register to reserve a place and help with planning for this event.

View the livestream for up to 30 days on the Carnegie Library Facebook page. (Go to the video page - no need to sign in)

Presented by Friends of Carnegie Library in co-operation with Lambeth Library Services

Join author Marlowe Russell to discuss her new novel Bantling.

Tue, 9 Apr 2024 19:00 - 20:30 BST - in the Carnegie library

Bantling (Archaic): a young or small child, a brat. Formerly = bastard. OED

Who are you if you don’t know where you come from? Where do you fit if your past is make-believe?

1923. South London. Unmarried, pregnant and determined to keep her child, Violet accepts help from Ellen, a vicar’s wife. When their relationship turns sour, Violet and her baby, Sam, are forcibly separated. Sam is brought up as somebody else by a woman who loves him and a man who doesn’t. Ellen and Violet each have to reshape their hopes as the world changes around them. In London, Hull, Sydney and aboard an aircraft carrier, through the turbulence of war and the uncertainties of peace, Violet and Sam search for each other and try to build lives that make sense.

Join Marlowe Russell to discuss her novel and writing process.

Marlowe Russell

Born in Sydney, Australia and raised in north London, I studied social anthropology in Hull, fine art in Sydney and cultural history and fiction writing back in London. I have fingers in various creative, political and social pies. Nowadays, I am mostly preoccupied with the South London Botanical Institute, a plant and environmental education charity in south London (where I live), planning the colour-blazing future of my blank-canvas garden and completing a further novel. Bantling is my first published novel.

Event organised by the Friends of Carnegie Library

Reserve a spot on Eventbrite - admission free

View the livestream for up to 30 days on the Carnegie Library Facebook page. (Go to the video page - no need to sign in)

Tuesday evening, 12 March 7pm to 8:30pm

The women of Lambeth have been trailblazers and pioneers and occasionally notorious. From the thirteenth to the twenty-first century, Lambeth women have excelled in many spheres, from the medieval wife, Margaret FitzGerold, who challenged the king’s right to determine her life to Adele, world famous queen of pop music.

Here you will find female mountaineers, artists, architects, actors, politicians, doctors, nurses, novelists, theatre directors, businesswomen and campaigners across the centuries.

Glass ceilings have been shattered.

Event organised by The Friends of Carnegie Library

Admission free - reserve a spot

The event will be live-streamed from the Carnegie Library facebook page and available to view for 30 days afterwards.

Tuesday evening , 13 Feb 2024 19:00 - 20:30 pm - at the library

Join editor Jeffrey Doorn and contributing authors to discuss this LGBT+ anthology of stories & poems and significant places in our lives.

19 prose and poetry pieces by 14 authors recollects places now lost, either through physical alteration, changed character, redevelopment or demolition.

It is important not only to recall the venues and facilities of the past, but also to record these markers of our history and heritage before they are completely forgotten - they form part of a legacy to younger and future generations who might not otherwise have any idea such places existed or what part they played in our development as individuals or communities.

Presented by The Friends of Carnegie Library

Admission free - reserve a spot

The event will be live-streamed from the Carnegie Library facebook page and available to view for 30 days afterwards.

Tuesday evening, 9th of January - 7pm to 8:30pm

At the library (or online)

We are delighted to welcome back novelist and freelance art critic Sue Hubbard to discuss Flatlands – her latest novel - a moving tale of friendship and the beauty of nature, set in the wild landscape of the Fens during the Second World War.

Presented by the Friends of Carnegie Library

Reserve a spot on Eventbrite

You can also view the event online from the Carnegie Library facebook page (videos)