big open air event last night in trafalgar square to inaugurate world book night. a huge crowd of people gathering to hear readings by margaret atwood, monica ali, philip pullman, john le carré and myself among others. we all felt a bit like rock stars, but edna o-brian and alan bennet and edna o-'brien got warmer receptions than the actual rock stars nick cave and rupert everett. jamie byng and fiona mcmorrough, who came up with the crazy idea and made it work, have, i think invented something both new and glorious, gathering thousands of people together not to sing along and pogo down the front, but to be very still and quiet and simply listen. it was magical. 

nick hider has some photos of the even on flicker (here) which are rather better than mine (below). it wasn't until i saw them that i realised how great the stage looked from out front, especially that logo running up nelson's column...