The Idler

Now Booking: An Evening of Rhetoric with Sam Leith

26 January 2012

We are thrilled to announce that Sam Leith, author of “You Talkin’ To Me?” Rhetoric from Aristotle to Obama is coming to The Idler Academy on 22nd February to teach pupils about the Art of Persuasion.

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Tonight: Tom Hodgkinson on How to be Idle

Tonight I’ll be leading a symposium for a small group on the art of being idle, and will also discuss the genesis of my first book, How to be Idle. This will be a class for anyone at a turning point and who wants to take control of their life. Click here to book. TH

Telegraph: Idler Academy Spearheads Coffeehouse Renaissance

25 January 2012

The Daily Telegraph today cites the Idler Academy as one of three outstanding coffeehouses in London. Click here to read the piece. TH

Now Booking: Ancient Philosophy Course with Mark Vernon

A Typical Evening at the Idler Academy

Out Now: Idler 43 Second Edition Featuring Major David Hockney Interview

21 January 2012

WE HAVE just received delivery of the second edition of Idler 43: Back to the Land. It includes a fascinating interview with David Hockney, who also drew a self-portrait and sketches about perspective especially for the Idler. Click here to order your copy or come into the Idler Academy. TH

John Walsh on the Idler Academy

20 January 2012

Thank you to the Independent’s John Walsh for his lovely piece on the Idler Academy, and for ‘getting it’ so well. Click here.

Tonight: Early Music Concert

We are delighted to announce a winter concert called To Drive The Cold Winter Away, tonight at the Idler Academy.

This will be a captivating concert of music past for the season of winter. Elizabethan ballads upon the freezing of the Thames, frosty tipped folk tunes and Vivaldi’s “Winter” from the Four Seasons.

Starring:

Jennifer Bennett – violin, viola da gamba, recorder
Michael Tyack – renaissance lute, cittern, saz and singing

Jennifer specializes in early music improvisation with stunning virtuosity. Michael fronts the medieval rock band “Circulus” and Tudor folk trio “Princes in the Tower”.

Click here for more info. TH

Wine Masterclass Cancelled

19 January 2012

I’m afraid that we have had to cancel our Wine Masterclass tonight due to illness. Click here to sign up for February’s class. JH

A Sonnet For Your Edification

16 January 2012

I thought I’d quote this wonderful lovelorn sonnet which Susanna Hislop taught in tonight’s English poetry course. It’s called ‘I Find No Peace’, is from the early 16th century, and is by Sir Thomas Wyatt:

I find no peace, and all my war is done;
I fear and hope, I burn and freeze like ice;
I fly above the wind, yet can I not arise;
And naught I have, yet all the world I seize on;
That looseth nor locketh holdeth me in prison
And holdeth me not yet can I scape nowise
Nor letteth me live nor die at my devise,
And yet of death it giveth none occasion.
Without eyen I see, and without tongue I plain;
I desire to perish, and yet I ask health;
I love another, and thus I hate myself;
I feed me in sorrow and laugh at all my pain.
Likewise displeaseth me both death and life,
And my delight is causer of this strife.

On a lighter note, Tuesday evening is ukulele night!

TH

This week’s Wine Masterclass: Natural Wines

Tickets are now booking for this Thursday’s Wine Masterclass with Justin Knock MW. In the spirit of the cleansing nature of January, we’ll be tasting a range of natural wines. ‘January is a month for cleansing, purifying and starting afresh. If one can’t abstain then make it as healthy as possible. Natural, organic, biodynamic, sustainable, conventional – these are all terms to describe wine styles but what does it all mean?’ That’s Thursday 19 January, 6.30pm to 9pm. Book here.

The Idler Academy at Selfridges

12 January 2012

We are thrilled to announce that the Idler Academy is taking up residence in Selfridges over the next two months. This is part of their Words Words Words season, designed to celebrate the literary. We have a table of Idler goodies on sale upstairs in the Wonder Room, and a series of wonderful literary workshops and lessons in the Ultralounge, a comfy space in the basement with a library of 15,000 books. It’s all very exciting and we kick off on Friday 13 January at 5pm for a grammar lesson with Mr Gwynne. ‘Thank God it’s Grammar on Friday,’ the weary Oxford Street toiler might reflect. So instead of retreating to the pub after work, come and join us for a mental workout. And click here take a look at the other events we have programmed. TH

Tuesdays are Ukulele Nights!

09 January 2012

Join our ukulele workshops every Tuesday for the next eight weeks at the Idler Academy. Under the expert tutelage of Danny Wootton, with guest appearances from Tom Hodgkinson and Arthur Jeffes, we will study chords, strumming and music theory. You will be amazed at how quickly you will pick up the rudiments of this fantastic instrument. Click here to join us or drop in. The drop-in price is £20 and this includes wine and nibbles. The sessions will last from 6.30pm to 8.30pm. TH

Twelfth Night Drinks and Parents Evening

05 January 2012

Please do come along to 81 Westbourne Park Road on Friday 6 January to celebrate Twelfth Night with wine and roast capon, meet the Head Master and check out what courses and events are coming up. TH

Learn Latin at the Idler Academy on Tuesday Evenings

04 January 2012

A reminder that our brilliant Latin classes with the excellent Susanna Hislop, who teaches in the old way, are starting on Tuesday 10 January. We have two on offer: Latin for Beginners and Latin Course Stage Two, for those who have got the grammatical basics of the active tenses and main nouns. We are aiming for class sizes of between five and fifteen. Wine and nibbles will be served. Exercise books and pencils are provided. Click here to book Latin for Beginners and here to book Latin Stage Two. TH

Montaigne Symposium with Sarah Bakewell, 9 February

31 December 2011

Productive Idler of the Renaissance

We are thrilled to announce that we are holding a symposium on the life and work of that famously productive idler, Michel de Montaigne. Your host will be none other than Sarah Bakewell, Montaigne’s recent biographer. Sarah’s book, How to Live, was described as ‘splendidly conceived and beautifully written’ by the Sunday Times. Read more.

The Twelve Days of Christmas

We are respecting the old custom of taking twelve days off for Christmas. The Idler Academy is now closed and will re-open at 10am on Friday 6th January, Twelfth Night, or the Feast of the Epiphany. Tom and Joe will be serving wine from 5pm to celebrate this feast day. We might even throw in a couple of roast capons, some raisins, almonds, fine cheeses, slices of quince, quail’s eggs and a few apples. Bring a lamprey pie! Please join us! TH

Tom Hodgkinson’s Idling Course

30 December 2011

Tom Hodgkinson by Rick Morris Pushinsky

I have organized a set of four classes, or symposia, in idling and freedom. They are for small groups, and wine and nibbles will be provided. Each class is based around each of my four books, and will take place on the fourth Thursday of each month, starting in January. So we have: How to be Idle on Thursday 26 January; How to be Free on Thursday 23 February; The Idle Parent on Thursday 22 March and Brave Old World on Thursday 26 April. They will be a lot of fun and, I hope, very useful in a practical sense to anyone who wants to find freedom in the modern world. We will discuss a mixture of strategies both practical and mental for liberation. The cost is £30 per symposium. Or you can save £20 by booking all four classes in advance. Read more here. TH

Modern Philosophy Course

28 December 2011

This is a reminder that our modern philosophy course with Mark Vernon starts on Monday 9 January, and is just the thing to give your brain a good workout in the new year. We are running six classes, each of which will give a thorough introduction to a particular philosopher. You can book the whole course, or come to individual seminars. Click here to book the whole course (an benefit from 20% discount), or click on the philosopher to come to that particular class: Descartes, Bishop Berkeley, Kant, David Hume, Michel Foucault, Karl Popper. TH

Learn a Skill in the New Year

21 December 2011

Now’s the time to book one of the superb new courses we have set up at the Idler Academy starting in January. And remember: Tuesday evenings are for Latin and Ukulele. Click below or call us on 0207 221 5908 to book. Now booking are:

Latin for Beginners eight week course. Tuesdays. Read more.

Latin Stage 2 eight week course. Tuesdays. Read more.

Creative Writing Workshop for Beginners. Tuesdays at 11am. Read more.

Ukulele for Beginners: eight week course with Danny Wootton. Tuesdays. Read more.

English Poetry from Chaucer to TS Eliot: six week course. Mondays. Read more.

Modern Philosophy from Descartes to Popper: six week course. Mondays. Read more. TH

Christmas Opening Hours and Dangerous Women

20 December 2011

We are open from ten till six thirty every day this week with the exception of Christmas Eve when we close at 1pm. And there is late night shopping on Thursday, when we present a signing of Dangerous Women by Clare Conville, Liz Hoggard and Sarah-Jane Lovett, complete with mulled wine and mince pies.

Signing: Thursday 22 December, 6.30pm