New from Five Leaves - Curious Kentish Town

We are pleased to announce Five Leaves' latest title, Curious Kentish Town by Martin Plaut and Andrew Whitehead. Andrew previously edited our London Fictions book, and runs the website of the same name. There is also a website for Curious Kentish Town, which will be updated as more curiousities emerge. The book will tell you which Kentish Town rent strike inspired a Peggy Seeger song, what happened to the Fleet river and all you need to know about the horse tunnels at Camden Lock. Lots of curious stories, and lots of photographs.
The Curious website is at
http://www.curiouskentishtown.com/, which includes a big feature on the book in this week's Camden New Journal.
Kentish Town area residents can buy the book at The Owl and other nearby bookshops as well as the usual outlets like Housmans and, post free, from Five Leaves on 0115 8373097.
Curious Kentish Town
9781910170069, 92 pages, £7.95.

Camden news

The Camden New Journal is always worth reading, regardless of where you live, having unusually good coverage for a free newspaper, and an excellent Review section. When in London I usually nip across from St Pancras station to Judd Street where there is a box of them. The current issue features two literary articles of note. The first is the big debate on the future of libraries in Camden, where the nice American company LSSI is offering to take over the library service. Of course they promise that there will be no closures, the improved service will be run more economically for the tax-payer and everyone will walk off hand in hand to a glorious future. And who could doubt them?

Elsewhere in the paper there is another story of the Con-Dem elysium in which we are living. The writer Emanuel Litvinoff (many of whose poems appear in Five Leaves' Passionate Renewal: Jewish Poetry in Britain since 1945) has fallen on hard times and the local Council has withdrawn his carer. He can't afford the £150 a week to keep the service he had. He was told he should sign on and claim Job Seekers Allowance. Emanuel is 97. His partner can't sign on as she is unavailable for work as she has to look after him. As well as being a great poet, Emanuel wrote one of the best books of life in the East End in the 1930s when he was fed by the Sally Army and was given old boots by the Jewish Board of Guardians. His Journey Through a Small Planet is still available from Penguin. As he said in the paper "It seems the same as 1931 all over again. This is a depression caused by financiars and bankers, but it is the poorest who are paying for it."

You've lost that loving feeling

Walking down Marchmont Street in London it was encouraging to see the Camden Council street signs saying "Love Your High Street", and offering a website for further information. And there on www.camden.gov.uk/love you will find a great promotion for Gay's the Word Bookshop. Here it is in full:
Internationally renowned, this small independent book shop and community hub has been providing textual orientation to London’s gay community for 30 years. The shelves, which are sponsored by the shop’s supporters, hold books on gay history, advice on coming out and gay and lesbian fiction.
66 Marchmont Street WC1N 1AB020 7278 7654 http://www.gaystheword.co.uk/.

Fantastic. Surely this then can't be the same Camden Council that is trying to put up Gay's the Word rent by 25%, threatening its existence?


The second hand and remainder shop Marchmont Books has suggested it is unlikely to continue trading, and Camden Council is also trying to whack up the rent of Maghreb Books, a small specialist bookshop carrying books on the Maghreb, www.maghreb-studies-association.co.uk/en/shophome.html. Keep reading Camden New Journal for developments.