Top writers back Museums at Night 2013

The Reading Agency is delighted to have partnered with Culture24 brokered appearances by leading writers to talk about their work at prominent cultural venues, as part of the 2013 Museums at Night Festival (16-18 May 2013).

 *18 May: Simon Mayo, BBC broadcaster and author of the bestselling Itch children’s novels, which chronicle the misadventures of the teenage science nut Itchingham Lofte, will be at the Royal Institution in central London, where the programme will include live experiments.

 *Multi-award-winning illustrator Chris Riddell will be at Hove Museum and Art Gallery on 16 May, to discuss his work on bestselling titles such as The Edge Chronicles and the Ottoline series, sharing drawing tips and encouraging his audience to try out their own drawing skills.

 *An evening of cultural celebration at the London Transport Museum on 17 May will see author Andrew Martin reading from his new book Underground Overground: A Passenger’s History of the Tube, as well as featuring a tour of the museum’s Poster Art 150 exhibition and a celebration of Kew Gardens’ edible festival, including cocktail-making workshops, quizzes and much more.

 * At the Northampton Museum and Art Gallery on 17 May author and historian Lucy Moore will read from her major new biography Nijinksy: A Life.  Northampton is renowned for its production of ballet shoes, and the evening will include a demonstration of ballet and an exhibition of shoes belonging to top dancer including Anna Pavlova, Moira Shearer and Margot Fontaine.

 *In a special out-of-normal-hours event for children aged nine and over, Young Sherlock Holmes author Andrew Lane will read from his new book Lost Worlds at Barts Pathology Museum on 18 May.

 *The Cartoon Museum in central London will play host on 18 May to writer and stand-up comedian Mo O'Hara, in an interactive family event which will feature The Great Hamster Massacre author talking about how she got into writing, and reading from her new book My Big Fat Zombie Goldfish.

Museums at Night is the annual after-hours celebration of arts, culture and heritage – when hundreds of museums, galleries, libraries, archives and heritage sites open their doors for special events. (www.museumsatnight.org.uk).

The authors appearing as part of this year’s festival build on the success of similar events last year, which saw writers including veteran ITN war reporter Sandy Gall speak at Surgeons’ Hall Museum in Edinburgh and Hugh Barker, author of Hedge Britannia, discussing how we became a nation of gardeners at the Lyme Regis Museum.