Letters Live

Letters Live

@letterslive

LETTERS LIVE is a series of live events celebrating the power of literary correspondence. Inspired by Shaun Usher's Letters of Note, Letters Live is an initiative by publishing company Canongate and Benedict Cumberbatch’s production company SunnyMarch. It has become a phenomenon wherever is has played in the UK.

The idea of LETTERS LIVE is simple: we ask talented, inspiring and high-profile artists from various disciplines to read letters out loud to our audiences. LETTERS LIVE celebrates letter writing and the art of correspondence first and foremost.

Videos Playlists

“My muse is not a horse” Kylie Minogue reads Nick Cave letter to MTV

“How you would love it here” Joss Ackland reads his own letter to his future wife Rosemary (1951)

“Like a tree in full bearing” Louise Brealey reads Charlotte Brontë’s letter to W. S. Williams

"IN EVENT OF MOON DISASTER" Benedict Cumberbatch reads Bill Safire's memo to President Nixon's Chief of Staff (1969)

"P.S. This is my favorite memo ever" Matt Berry reads Matt Stone memo to the MPAA

“This is quite true” Geoffrey Palmer reads Evelyn Waugh letter to his wife (31st May 1942)

"You will recognise me, I am the dead one" - Andrew Scott reads a letter from Spike Milligan to George Harrison

"My dearest one" - Benedict Cumberbatch reads Chris Barker’s letter to Bessie Moore

"Ought women not to be abolished all together?" Louise Brealey reads Clementine Churchill

"Yours in distress" - Benedict Cumberbatch reads Alan Turing's letter to Norman Routledge (1952)

Letters Live at Freemasons' Hall, Covent Garden (March/April 2015)

1