For our full months event recommendations see our London Events page and Regular Events page also – if we’re missing something (your own event or someone else’s) let us know!

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I love street art. I always used to look forward to the pages near the back of Hip-Hop Connection (HHC) magazine, where they’d show pieces from around the UK. When I started getting more into photography, I started visiting places like Shoreditch, and particularly up and around Brick Lane. Those are areas that take a more relaxed view of graf, so artists are able to take their time, and express themselves more.

	It’s not a coincidence that I was introduced to street art through HHC. Graffiti is inextricably linked to hip-hop. Along with Deejaying, Emceeing, and B-Boying / Breakdancing, it was one of the “4 pillars” of hip-hop when it originated. Its roots were also firmly working class, originally, as spraycans were a cheap and available way to find self-expressions for youth in New York. You could ‘bomb’ a train, and have it go around the city like a mobile gallery, showing off your artistic skills to more people than would ever see it otherwise.
	As London artist Paul “Don” Smith put it in a 2013 interview:
	“There’s the wonderful hip hop movement that picked a lot of us up. There was music, dance and art – creativity for people who needed to do something. It goes back to New York. You have loads of kids, some a little upset and they found themselves through this incredible movement. Writing music, poetry, dancing… how much energy is being vented? It’s just saved so many people. I think graffiti is the darker side of all of this. You had to go into places you shouldn’t be. It was all quite rock and roll, drink and drugs coming a bit hand in hand with it.”

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I’d spotted ZOMBIES HATE KUNG FU launching in the LSCC table guide. Speaking personally zombies aren’t really my thing (yes I know, everyone else loves them and I’m wrong). Kung Fu on the other hand… So before the con was out I made sure to head along for a chat with creator and writer Ricky-Marcel Pitcher.

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Since starting Carabas some Comic / Graphic Novel publishers have very much been on my radar, though with so much to do there’s not been time enough to find out more; London’s Diego Publishing were very much one of them so it was firmly inked in on the LSCC ‘To Do’ list to pop by their stand and find out more…

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	On Meetup: London Techno, House & Psychedelic Clubbing (All events)
	@ConclaveOfRave

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Raving since the late hours of 2012 the London Techno House & Psychedelic Clubbing Meetup have clocked nearly a century of clubbing events, now pitched by a team of four. Read the rest of this entry »

	A PINT WITH PENNY FOR THE WORKHOUSE (MINUS TOM)
	Having seen Penny For The Workhouse live a couple of times, and each time having been knocked out by their material and their performance, I thought it would be worthwhile meeting them and trying to find out what makes them tick, and where their intriguing songs come from.

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We knew Mike’s Place was something important when we first came across it and we’re very pleased to have some interior art selections to share from this important and moving work of graphic non-fiction.

Having read so much lazy copy from the back and reviews of literary books and misery memoirs with the words ‘a testament to the human spirit’, Mike’s Place is simply a story of people, good and flawed people and what happens to them in Israel 2003. It’s the work – with artist Koren Shadmi – of the film-makers of ‘Blues by the Beach’, the documentary of the same place and events which have a far from indirect connection to the London 7/7 bombings as related in the epilogue.

At time of writing Mike’s Place is recently out (9th June). We hope you enjoy the pages and would wholeheartedly encourage you to buy a copy for yourself and for others, and certainly for your shop if you happen to be a retailer.

Respect and peace to all involved.

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	Chapter One
	A girl hurried barefoot through the streets of what had once been East London.
	She stumbled, clumsy in her haste, and caught herself with the iron railing she carried in her right hand. Her skin was covered in scales of tiny terracotta rooftops. A fringe of rubberised cable fell across her forehead from under the hood of her sweatshirt. The hair-fine streets that crisscrossed her back were flooded with oily sweat. As she ran, her shadow loomed and shambled in front of her, stretched by the dawn.
	Beth could barely keep her eyes open. Hunger, exhaustion and week after week of pretending to be fine had hollowed her out. She licked her dry lips. She could sense the pulse of the street under her, but instead of slapping her soles flat to the pavement and replenishing herself from that tan­talising thrum of energy, she ran on tiptoes like she was trying to avoid broken glass. She looked up at where the houses had used to be and swallowed fearfully. Hungry as she was, she didn’t dare feed here.

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	On Meetup: The London Indie Music Meetup (for all events)
	On Facebook
	On Twitter: @LondonIndieMeet [currently on hiatus]

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	On Meetup (main site): www.meetup.com/The-Horror-Book-Club
	Like on Facebook: www.facebook.com/thehorrorbookclub
	Follow on Twitter: @HorrorBookClub
	“For those who like to face their fears… with books!”

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	DISCOVER on Meet-Up (click here)

About:

A new addition to the London’s SFF book club scene, notably with more spaces at present; one of the organisers may spend rather more time thinking about leopards than other organisers / people generally *.

(* Or they may not)

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The one stop shop to prepare for the end of days!
	www.post-apocalypticbookclub.co.uk
	On Meet-Up
	On Facebook
	On Twitter: @Dystocalypse (Leila, the organiser of the Post-Apocalyptic Book Club & Dark Societies series of events, and Arthur C Clarke Award 2015 judge. Tweets are a mix of personal and PABC news).
A group for people who are interested in reading or watching some of the fantastic books and movies that the Post-Apocalyptic and Dystopian genre has come up with over the years.

More about (in their words):

		Based in Central London, the Post-Apocalyptic Book Club meets once a month to discuss Dystopian Literature. Along side this, we host author events and attend film nights, plays and exhibitions. If you would like to join us, please check out our website and meetup group for more information.
		We started out in May 2009 as a group of friends who were all reading The Road and thought it would be fun to start a book club dedicated to this sci-fi sub-genre. Since, we have already read in excess of 30 books so some may say we are now experts in this field.
		We are also an equal opportunity group and we also read Dystopian fiction as you will often find crossover! So, if you fancy reading some books about the decline of society or the subsequent rebuilding of it while having a drink and a laugh then we would love to meet you.

Video about the Post-Apocalyptic Book Club made by students at Kingston University (2014)

	On Facebook (Group)
	On Twitter: @fabulations – Fabulations: a London-based book group celebrating #DiverseSFF. Run with a feminist ethos by @thelovelymrfred. Queries? Email danielfredriksson.uk@gmail.com

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News from London artist Miranda Benzies (the London Face series etc) about a new exhibitions featuring her work along with Nicholas Borden and Marc Googerham in October and November:

Waterloo Bridge at Dusk, oil on wood, 20x40cm, 2014 Miranda Benzies In her series of paintings called  ‘London Faces’, Miranda Benzies explores the correlation between people and cities, the architecture that is used and maintained by city dwellers over the centuries is anthropomorphically re-visioned. The buildings are viewed as the organs of the city, as if living proof of its inhabitancy over time. Blending into this way of seeing London, Miranda Benzies is also interested in the idea of legacy, suggesting the inherent human need to leave traces behind.

The Ghost of Southward Street, acrylic on canvas, 24×30″, 2014 Marc Gooderham Having always lived and worked in London, Marc Gooderham finds the city to be a perfect source of inspiration. In concentrating on the city’s decaying and unique architecture, Gooderham manages to capture the singular beauty to be found in those neglected buildings that have fallen into disrepair, as the living city continues to evolve around them. The artist will exhibit a newly commissioned painting  and a series of drawings and prints of familiar London scenes.

Cavendish Mansions, Clerkenwell Rd, pencil on paper, 2013 Nicholas Borden Borden brings his distinctly accessible and vibrantly painted views of London Street scenes to this exhibition – the scenes are painted plein air and present a pleasing conjunction of the delightfully known and the curiously viewed. For this show the artist presents exquisite line drawings and a newly commissioned painting made high above the city skyline in Petticoat Towers where the famous Middlesex Street, at the heart of Petticoat Lane Market, is seen anew.