Born on this date in 1797 in Somers Town, London, Mary Shelley stepped from the shadows of her more renowned husband, father and mother to make her mark in literature with the tale of the gothic man-monster Frankenstein. She certainly drew from an inspiring literary circle. Her father was radical political philosopher William Godwin and […]
This varied photo series by What’s Hot London?’s Eddie Saint-Jean shows the heart of our capital on a typical day. You’d get the impression that London is a pretty eclectic, cultured, cosmopolitan and sometimes barmy city. Which is just what it is!
Founded by double-bassist Chi-chi Nwanok, the Chineke Orchestra is Europe’s first all-black professional orchestra. Its principal conductor Wayne Marshall is the only black one in Britain and made his big stage debut on September 13th 2016 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank. The organisation seeks to address the under-representation of ethnic minorities in this area […]
Punk was born on February 12th 1976 when the Sex Pistols had one of their typically anarchic, venom-fuelled gigs at The Marquee, Oxford Street. This exhibition at The British Library takes you back to those early days and the bands that launched a sub-culture that shocked the world. Punk svengali Malcolm McLaren’s input into the look […]
Most film-lovers know Honor Blackman‘s familiar face as a Bond girl in Goldfinger, few are aware she was born in the working class heart of the East End, in Plaistow then a ward of West Ham in the London borough of Newham. And that was on this very day – August 22nd. Her career ascent […]
Night clubs have been losing business at a rapid rate, with a 50% increase in closures since 2008 but tonight’s introduction of all night Tube services may reverse the trend. Despite contention over how the stations would be manned and whether staff would receive equitable pay increases, the Central and Victoria lines will be the […]
The countdown begins to What’s Hot London?’s own Hot Shorts Film Festival 2016 in October which promises to bring you the best of UK and international films by emerging directors. For these film-makers it is the culmination of much pain-staking pre-production, long hours on-set and putting full trust in the final edit. They eventually serve […]
British military officer and diplomat Thomas Edward Lawrence was the real life dashing Lawrence of Arabia immortalised by David Lean’s 1962 movie, with the steely blue eyes of Peter O’Toole in his likeness. The film won nine Oscars and catapulted O’Toole into global fame as an actor with an epic resume but there are still […]
Fabletop Theatre’s Girl and The Box tackles a problem as old as Man and Woman. What do we do with negative feelings such as depression, anger and fear that plague us in dark moments? Yes, we probably do shut them up in a box. But this playful yet deep ensemble piece has the lead character […]
The Brazilian dining experience ventures into traditionally unchartered waters taking on the all-you-can eat crowd and doing so with a quality and South American panache its lower market rivals fail to match. Ideally located on Shaftesbury Avenue for both the throng of tourists and the theatre-goers, it offers carvers on call for meat lovers and […]
Hillary Clinton Graffiti/Painting Shoreditch By Street Artist Pegasus
