Café cultured – literary project eyes Haggerston railway arches
Matthew Wilson is the co-founder of The Library Café
A crowd-sourcing campaign began at the start of this month with the aim of establishing London’s leading literary café.
A host of high-profile local and literary names are backing The Library Café, which is raising funds through kickstarter.com.
In exchange for donations, funders will receive tickets to readings with the project’s notable literary backers including Hackney resident Iain Sinclair, former Poet Laureate Sir Andrew Motion and Jackie Kay MBE.
Sir Andrew commented: “Spaces like this, and the opportunities that come with them, are vital at any time. At times like this, they are essential.”
Local poet and playwright Inua Ellams is in agreement, lending his support to the campaign as he fears public sector cuts will lead to “a ghettoisation in education which will affect people in poorer communities”.
He has fond memories of René Goscinny’s Asterix comics and immersing himself in books when he first came to the UK from Nigeria.
“I discovered Victoria Library and I think I went there every day for two months. I just loved exploring and finding new worlds,” he said.
Ellams will be among those hosting readings and leading workshops too.
Matthew Wilson, co-founder of The Library Café, wants to stress there are tangible incentives for those willing to make donations:
“People wouldn’t just be funding [the project] they would be getting a reward for their money,” he insisted.
The investment will also reap benefits beyond the proposed events.
“We think that it’s important that creative people have a space that they can call their own, somewhere they can go and involve themselves with interesting projects and workshops,” he added.
“We want it to be a creative hub that is owned by the customers as much as it is by us. If all goes to plan with this archway, we’d hope to open in July.”
The location is still to be confirmed but one spot being considered at present is a Haggerston railway arch.
The Library Café intends to support Hackney producers and enterprises, providing a sumptuous selection of breakfast and lunch dishes.
Once up and running, the venue will have a calendar of literary and spoken word events, open-mic poetry and flash fiction nights.
Wilson and his business partner, who is currently head chef at a busy Hackney café, will encourage the space to be used by book groups, not-for-profit creative workshops, and the new venture will also produce a free monthly anthology to publish the works of up-and-coming writers.