Join Iain Sinclair, John Rogers, Tom Bolton and Helen Parton for a discussion about London, how it is changing, how that affects us and what can be done about it.
Anger on the streets of Brixton, protests on the streets of Norton Folgate: the anger at changing neighbourhoods and the desire to preserve London’s historical patches has rarely been stronger. Be it locals being priced out of their area or the bulldozers moving in on beloved buildings, everyone knows that London is changing. Some are excited about it, some are nervous and some are angry.
Before the discussion begins, representatives of some London protest groups will give short presentations about the parts of London they wish to protect or preserve.
Iain Sinclair
Iain Sinclair’s books include London Orbital, Hackney, That Rose-Red Empire, Downriver (which won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the Encore Award), Ghost Milk and American Smoke. He lives in Hackney, east London.
Tom Bolton
Tom is a London-based writer and explorer and is the author of The Vanished City: London’s Lost Neighbourhoods which looks at the ten London areas, well-known in their day, which have disappeared from the A-Z as well as London’s Lost Rivers: A Walker’s Guide.
Helen Parton
Helen is the Editor of onoffice Magazine and was programme manager of Clerkenwell Design Week 2013 and 2014. Helen provides copywriting for professional bodies including the Design Council and the Professional Planning Forum.
John Rogers
When he first came to London, John Rogers moved into a terraced house in Forest Gate with the ambition of living like The Young Ones. He made sense of his new environment by walking everywhere he could, making notes in a Lion Brand notebook.
He first put pen to paper writing plays, sketches, and stand-up which he performed in London fringe venues. He has worked on numerous projects with comedian Russell Brand and directed documentaries including The London Perambulator and Make Your Own Damn Art: the World of Bob and Roberta Smith. John also produced and co-presented Ventures and Adventures in Topography on Resonance 104.4fm with Nick Papadimitriou.
Most recently, he built a shed at the bottom of his garden that he painted red and green, which he is unusually proud of.
This discussion was chaired by James Drury, Londonist Editor in Chief.