November 2, 2026 |
We hear it constantly: young people aren’t going out anymore. Clubs are struggling to sell tickets, pubs midweek are dead, twentysomethings are picking up weights over pints.
While there’s a sliver of truth to all that, the capital’s youth are finding new ways to get together, even if it doesn’t involve alcopops and sticky dancefloors. Throughout London, there has been a boom in the literary scene, with reading nights popping up across the city. No two are the same. There are poetry slams, pickand-mix variety shows, trans healthcare fundraisers and basement shindigs where you can hear both smutty fanfics and queer theory over a couple of G&Ts. You never know, you might end up even copping off with a fellow words fan? What the following nights have in common is that you’re guaranteed to hear excellent pieces of writing from some of the capital’s most exciting scribes. Wise words all round.
Letty Cole
LOST PROPERTY
Letty Cole’s Lost Property is a series of “miscellaneous lectures” held monthly(ish) across London. Cole, a writer published in British Vogue and Dazed, wanted to create a space “where curious minds from the creative scenes gather to share their favourite rabbit holes and niche obsessions”. Launched last year, it has quickly become a hot ticket, with nights at the likes of Rivoli Ballroom in South London and the Saatchi Yates gallery in St James’s selling out at rapid speeds.
Why did you start Lost Property?
I’d been thinking about the format – a kind of grown-up show-and-tell – for a long time, and hit on a real demand for a space that is funny, nerdy, sexy and silly all at once. The response since launching in early 2025 has been amazing. We now sell out 250-person venues in 24 hours!
What inspired you when making it?
It was born partly from sheer nosiness, a desire to peek inside the most precious parts of other people’s minds. But also there was a need to reject some of the worst parts of modern culture, like disconnection, optimisation and division. Lost Property is designed to mirror all of the chaos and magic of the physical world, and help us to re-engage in real life and with each other.
What sort of stories will we hear on the night?
Everyone who speaks at Lost Property is very smart and funny, and we deliberately cover a motley array of topics. We’ve heard talks on everything, high and low: [philosopher Gilles] Deleuze, mudlarking, time-travelling, love scams, suburban architecture, raves, cryogenics, high heels, Wikipedia, phenomenology and frogs.
What sort of people are coming?
Our audience, like our speakers, come from different pockets of London’s creative subcultures, but we’re all united in our dual desire for both intellectualism and a bit of silliness. We get all sorts – art kids, fashion girls, literary types, nerds – but Lost Property really brings the best out of us all: it gets us off our phones and helps us fall back in love with the world a bit.
What’s been a memorable moment from previous nights?
The audience crying with laughter at Samra Mayanja’s clown lecture. Nimrod Kamer exposing us to the Wild West that is [crypto-based betting site] Polymarket. Dora Densham Bond getting on her knees to worship the Vinted gods. Everyone dancing to Cameron Picton’s My New Band Believe at our Christmas edition at the Rivoli Ballroom with [literary mag] Die Quieter Please. Too many more.
Why should we come to the next one?
A good time or your money back.
Photography by Lydia Garnett. Taken from 10 Men Issue 64 – FUTURE, LEGACY, HERITAGE – out NOW. Order your copy here.
