I am frequently invited to give readings from or to talk about my fiction in venues ranging from book shops to galleries, arts centres, pubs, libraries, lecture theatres, museums, nightclubs and performance art venues across the UK and around the world: from California to Croatia, Soho to Sydney. I have read at literature festivals, universities and art schools, at conferences, spoken word gigs, music festivals and birthday celebrations. I enjoy giving live readings, and see this as an important part of my work as a writer; something I try to do regularly.
See below for a word about bookings:.
Recent events have included a commission for the Ondaatje Theatre at the National Portrait Gallery, London as part of their Dirty Literature series (with live accompaniment from bass player Simon Edwards, see picture, right), the Five Dials stage at Port Eliot Festival and a new live collaboration with UK acid house pioneer Richard Norris, for the Free University of Glastonbury that you can listen to exclusively here.
2013 dates include:
May 17 2013: ODI “Friday lunchtime lectures: A story of polar archives and climate change.’ 13:00 to 13:45. The Open Data Institute, 65 Clifton Street, London, EC2A 4JE. FREE BUT BOOKING ESSENTIAL. Join Tony White for a short reading from Shackleton’s Man Goes South, and to hear how he used contemporary climate data and old polar archives to tell a new kind of climate change story. Friday lunchtime lectures at the Open Data Institute. You bring your lunch, we provide tea & coffee, an interesting talk, and enough time to get back to your desk. Twitter: #odifridays
May 9 2013: I’ll be talking about Dicky Star and the Garden Rule and Shackleton’s Man Goes South at Words/Worlds, The Nuffield Theatre, Lancaster University: Centre for Performance and Practice. 1:30-5:30. FREE. Convened to mark the appointment of Tim Etchells as Professor of Performance at Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts (LICA), Words/Worlds is an afternoon symposium focused on approaches to writing in an interdisciplinary context. With Tim Etchells, visual artists Martin John Callanan and Penny McCarthy, curator Mathieu Copeland, performance maker and scholar Andrew Quick and Tony White.
May 4 2013: Newcastle Writing Conference. As part of this day-long event I’ll be joining fellow authors Lisa Gee and Ewan Morrisson and Sophie Rochester of The Literary Platform between 3.30 and 4.30 to discuss Digital Writing. Newcastle Writing Conference, Great Hall, Sutherland Building, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne: Saturday 4 May, 9.30am-5.30pm. Full details and booking information is available at http://nclwritingconference.eventbrite.co.uk. Tickets (includes lunch and refreshments): £99 / £50 (students) / £20 (Cuckoo Young Writers)
April 26 2013: I’ll be giving a remote lecture about the development of my Missorts soundwork/app to CLAN — the Cornwall Locative/ Interactive Arts Network.
April 24 2013: Science Museum, London. Shackleton’s Man Goes South — book launch and gallery opening. My new display for the Science Museum launches as part of a climate change-themed Science Museum Lates. The display accompanies my new novel Shackleton’s Man Goes South, the Museum’s Atmosphere commission 2013. Atmosphere gallery, admission free. Panel discussion: Is everything going south? Chair Siân Ede introduces Tony White, Simon Ings (novelist and editor of New Scientist’s digital quarterly Arc) and Dr Emma Tompkins (specialist in climate change adaptation and adviser to the UK Climate Impacts Programme) to discuss how science and literature are imagining climate change futures. I’m sorry that due to overwhelming demand the RSVP list for this event has been closed.
April 12 2013: ‘Missorts: Literature Reinvented’ — I’ve been invited to discuss Missorts, my new, permanent public artwork for Bristol inspired by the city’s radical literary heritage, and talk about writing for new digital platforms. I’ll be in conversation with Claire Doherty of Situations. The event is part of the fascinating-sounding exhibition Writing Britain: Bristol Writing. The event is free: book a place at any Bristol library or ring the Central Library on 0117 903 7250. Bristol Central Library. 7pm to 8.15pm
January 4 2013: ‘Include me out of the partisans manifesto’, screening of the new short film by Irish artist Alan Phelan that is based on my short story ‘Include Me Out’. Kevin Kavanagh Gallery, Chancery Lane, Dublin. Friday 4 January 19:00 pm to Saturday 5 January 19:00. Admission free.
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2012 archive — dates included:
November 22 2012: University of Essex, Centre for Creative Writing. Colchester. Talking about and reading from my work, particularly my novella Dicky Star and the Garden Rule. Part of the Writers at Essex programme. Venue: The Art Exchange, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester, 6.00 pm, admission free.
November 20 2012: Missorts, launch of new, free, immersive soundwork app and novella. Live readings from me, while Psychedelic drum pop band Beaty Heart will perform a live remix of Missorts. St Mary Redcliffe, Redcliffe Way, Bristol, BS1 6RA. 6.30 pm.The event is free and open to all, but booking essential. www.missorts.com
November 5 2012: Faber Social Presents DISSENT. ‘Celebrating the anniversary of Guy Fawkes’ failed plot, the Faber Social is proud to present an evening promoting the dissenting tradition.’ I’m a late addition to the bill, so not listed yet but delighted to be appearing with Stewart Home, James Kelman, Ali Smith. Also Dorian Lynskey (who I interviewed on stage at Glastonbury last year) will be DJ. 7:00 p.m. The Social, 5 Little Portland Street, London W1W 7JD.
October 27 2012: Final Academy, The Horse Hospital, London. Put together by Joe Ambrose: ‘This event honours The Final Academy which took place in London 30 years ago this October, and which featured William Burroughs, Brion Gysin, 23 Skidoo, and Psychic TV.’ More info.
October 27 2012: Durham Book Festival. I’ll be reading from — and talking about — Dicky Star and the Garden Rule at Durham Town Hall in the Burlison Gallery at 11 am. Tickets: £6 / £4. Click here for booking info and Durham Book Festival website.
October 13 2012: I’ll be reading from — and talking about — Dicky Star and the Garden Rule as part of an After Hours event at the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, to coincide with the forthcoming exhibition by Jane and Louise Wilson. The Whitworth promise ‘a fantastic evening of art, performance and live music as the gallery opens up, After Hours. The event is part of this years Manchester Weekender,’ plus a free glass of wine on arrival. More info here.
October 11 2012: Include Me Out of the Partisans Manifesto, part of Alan Phelan: Fragile Absolutes Part 3, Limerick City Art Gallery, Ireland. World premiere of a new short film by artist Alan Phelan, from my story ‘Include Me Out,’ that itself was originally commissioned to accompany Alan’s brilliant shows at Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, and Chapter, Cardiff. More info soon.
September 12 2012: ‘Reinventing Fiction, with Kate Pullinger, Tony White, Tim Wright,’ Guardian Masterclass. What do the current transformations in reading, writing, and publishing, mean to us as readers, writers, and artists? Showcasing a mix of new approaches, this is an exceptional opportunity to spend an evening with writers who operate at the cutting edge of where fiction meets new technology. This event will consist of a series of three presentations and a discussion and Q&A with guest speakers Tim Wright and Tony White. Limited spaces, 6.30pm- 9.30pm, The Guardian, 90 York Way, King’s Cross, London N1 9GU. Tickets: £39 (inclusive of VAT and booking fees).
July 22 2012: Port Eliot Festival. I’ll be doing a half-hour set on the Five Dials Stage at 4.15 on Sunday 22 July, reading from my specially commissioned novella Dicky Star and the Garden Rule. More on the festival line-up here. Photos of this event posted here.
July 6 2012: Biotik Session, Eden Project. I’ll be on the Biotik stage as part of the Eden Sessions for Nowhereisland, with Salena Godden and others. We’re doing two shows, so I’m on at 3pm and again at 4.40pm. (This event now blogged here.)
July 2 2012: Experimental Writing Across Borders. Brunel University. With Matt Thorne and José Francisco Fernández of Universidad de Almería I’ll be discussing, ‘the transnational reach of the New Puritan Manifesto,’ as well as recent directions in creative experimentation today, including readings from Dicky Star and the Garden Rule.
June 8 2012: The Literary Conference: Writing in a Digital Age. I will be speaking on a panel convened by The Literary Platform. Free Word Centre, 60 Farringdon Road, London EC1R 3GA. Full listing and booking information here.
April 26 2012: Dicky Star and the garden rule (Forma). Launch event for new work of fiction, including readings and discussion with writer and broadcaster Ken Hollings. 6.30 pm, Free Word Centre, 60 Farringdon Road, London EC1R 3GA. Watch video.
Tony White reads from Dicky Star and the garden rule at the Free Word Centre, London. from Forma Arts & Media on Vimeo.
A word about bookings:
If you programme a literary event and are interested in booking me to read then please feel free to get in touch as far in advance as possible with as much information about your event(s) as you can. I need to know where and when it will be (venue, date, time etc), what kind of event it is, how it is being publicised, info about travel and accommodation, and when you need me to send you any blurb and press photos by. You should also, ideally, let me know what the fee is. I mention money because this is what I do for a living, and I think that writers should be paid and expenses should be covered. Too often it seems that everyone but the writer is being paid!
However, I do know that some events, and arts projects of various kinds, can be run on less than a shoestring, and that payments are not always possible, especially if you’re trying to start something from scratch. I’ve done this myself; started things from scratch. I also know that there are other kinds of value than purely financial. So if you’re up-front with me and if I need the warm-up or it is for a good cause, or even if I’m simply into what you’re doing and I can do it then chances are I still might. Just ask.
