Guardian Live: How to write a London novel

Knowing your way around, reading your predecessors, and avoiding cliche were among the tips shared by Tony Parsons, Will Self and AL Kennedy

From Islington to Earl’s Court, Peckham Rye to Ladbroke Grove, just about every area of London has a rich, historic literature of its own. Countless writers down the ages have sought to make some sense of this labyrinthine metropolis: Dickens wittily unravelled the social fabric of the Victorian era, Virginia Woolf perfected the modernist city symphony and Muriel Spark elevated the quirks of postwar working-class life to literary greatness. But the concept of the London novel is a strange and fluid thing, hard to define beyond its obvious geographical premise. So how might aspiring novelists set about penning a London masterpiece?

For a recent Guardian Live event, Will Self, author of The Book of Dave; AL Kennedy, whose Serious Sweet is set for release this week, and Tony Parsons, bestselling author of Man and Boy, came together to share tips on how best to write about this city.

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