Forthcoming Events at Curious Fox


  • The Adventures of China Iron by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara

    Book Club

    "The Adventures of China Iron" by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara.
    Read the New Guardian review here. More

  • Paradise Takeaway by Alistair Noon

    "Paradise Takeaway" by Alistair Noon

    Join Berlin poet Alistair Noon to launch Paradise Takeaway (Two Rivers Press, 2023), a long poem with Luton Airport in it.
    Discussing the book with him will be Berlin writer Lucy Jones. More

  • Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson

    Book Club

    "Housekeeping" by Marilynne Robinson.
    Read the New Guardian review here. More

  • The Years by Annie Ernaux

    Book Club

    "The Years" by Annie Ernaux.
    Read the New Guardian review here. More





Book Club

Every 3rd Thursday of the Month, 7.30pm
Join us to discuss the book of the month in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. Newcomers always welcome. Registration not necessary, just turn up at the right time and be prepared to discuss the book!

During the Summer, we will hold the book club outdoors in the area just in front of the shop. We advise that you bring your own refreshments!
In the event of rain etc., we will move indoors.

Alistair Noon: Paradise Takeaway

09 November, 8.00pm
About Paradise Takeaway
Part memoir, part invention, Paradise Takeaway takes us along the bus and train routes of the London metropolitan area, not stopping at the eponymous fast food outlet en route to Aylesbury. On the way you’ll meet the Spirit of Rail, the Lady of Passport Control, a famous German philosopher, and other figures real and unreal.
Somewhere at the back of it all is ‘Germany: A Winter’s Fairy Tale’, Heinrich Heine’s long poem on returning to Germany for the first time after thirteen years in Parisian exile. Drawing on thirty years of trips back from Berlin to the UK, and a lifetime of not always entirely healthy eating, Alistair Noon reflects on what it is to watch a country and a waistline changing. And there isn’t a single mention of You Know What.

Alistair Noon grew up in Aylesbury and has lived in Berlin since the early nineties, bar a couple of years in China. His translations of the Russian poet Osip Mandelstam have appeared in the Guardian and New Statesman as well as three volumes from Shearsman Books. Paradise Takeaway is the third full-length collection of his own poetry.

Lucy Jones is a British-born writer and translator and has lived in Berlin since 1998. She has translated books by Brigitte Reimann, Anke Stelling and Theresia Enzensberger among others. Her writing has appeared in SAND, Pigeon Papers NYC, 3AM Magazine and LitroMag.

Past Events

The following are a selection of past events at Curious Fox




Why read Brigitte Reimann?

Wednesday 29 March, 8pm
The recent publication of Brigitte Reimann’s novella Siblings by Penguin Classics follows the translation over the past few years of the East German writer’s diaries into English. Both the novella and the diaries speak to the experience of a young, politically engaged woman in the GDR of the 1950s and 1960s. So why the interest now? Reimann’s translator Lucy Jones speaks with Paul Scraton about the importance of the writer’s work fifty years on from her untimely death, about how her work explores a society that attempted to position itself as far away from the horrors of Nazism as possible, and why she remains relevant today.




Isn't Everything Poetry?

Every 1st Tuesday of the Month
Postponed until further notice.
February 4th 2014 to March 5th 2020 and nearly every month in between.
"Isn't Everything Poetry?" is a monthly event featuring poets, authors and spoken-word performers & an open mic.

Previous guests at Isn't Everything Poetry? include A. E. Sadeghipour, Adam Flint, Alex Bodea, Alistair Noon, Amanda Hohenberg, Andrew Shields, Bernadette Geyer, Camilla Nelson, Candice Nembhard, Catherine Hales, Craig Teatime, Dean Browne, Demi Anter, Donna Stonecipher, Dusty-Anne Rhodes, Elly Jarvis, Emeka Ene, Golnoosh Nour, Gorjeoux, Grace Evangeline Holme, Hamza Beg, Hannah Goldstein, Ida Loggert, Ilia Kitup, Jaiksana Amarüda José, James Coon, Jane Flett, Jason Francis Mc Gimsey, Jenny Browne, Jeremy Whitehurst, Jeroen Nieuwland, Joel Scott, Julia Bell, Julia Groom, Julian Clyne, Kate McNaughton, Ken Shakin, Laila Zaidi Touis, Leigh Sauerwein, Marcus O'Shea, Mark Tardi, Michael Haeflinger, Michael Lederer, Musa Okwonga, Nicola Goldberg, Nisha Bhakoo, Peter Bakowski, Peter Hughes, Phil Smith, Philip Henderson, Priscilla Bergey, Rasp Thorne, Rhianna Ilube, Robert Stastny, Ron Edward, Rose Warner Miles, Rosie Allabarton, Sam Davis, Sam Langer, Sarah McKee, Seth Nunez, Síofra McSherry, Sister Chain, Stuart Braun, Subhashini Kaligotla, Turlach O Broin, Vijay Khurana.

We are extremely grateful to the above for their contribution to Isn't Everything Poetry? & to what helps to make running an independent bookshop fun and worthwhile. We look forward to a time post-Corona when we can welcome poets and writers and an audience back to Curious Fox.



Quiz Night

Every 3rd Tuesday of the Month
Postponed until further notice.
Quiz Night follows the traditional table quiz or pub quiz format popular in the British Isles. There are rounds of questions on varying subjects including Current Affairs, Arts & Literature, Science & Nature, Film & TV, Music & our infamous rapid-fire buzzer-round where participants are encouraged to bring their own buzzer (something handheld that makes a unique noise). There is 2 Euro charge per person with a cash prize for the winning team.

Quiz Night will return to our schedule when it is safe & legal to gather together indoors again.