Sunday, 1 September 2024

Want panel with Gillian Anderson @ Royal Festival Hall

And now for something completely different!


Instead of our monthly visit to the 229 for RevPro Wrestling we ventured to Waterloo for a literary experience.

As a not-surprise birthday treat for Toni I had bought us tickets to go and see Gillian Anderson at the Royal Festival Hall where she was promoting her new book Want.

We started out with gluten free goodness at Honest Burger at London Bridge. This franchise is one of favourites as they do a lot of gluten free options, it’s tasty and a very reasonable price.

We then made our way Waterloo and the Royal Festival Hall to pick up our copies of the Want book before heading into the auditorium.


What do you want, when no one is watching? What do you want, when the lights are off? What do you want, when you are anonymous? When we talk about sex, we talk about womanhood and motherhood, infidelity and exploitation, consent and respect, fairness and egalitarianism, love and hate, pleasure and pain. And yet for many reasons – some complicated, some not – so many of us don’t talk about it. Our deepest, most intimate fears and fantasies remain locked away inside of us, until someone comes along with the key.

Here’s the key. In this generation-defining book, Gillian Anderson collects and introduces the anonymous letters of hundreds of women from around the world (along with her own anonymous letter). Want reveals how women feel about sex when they have the freedom to be totally anonymous.

Gillain Anderson was joined by a panel of speakers including Amelia Abraham, Lohani Noor, Tobi Green Adenowo, and chair Shahidha Bari. Actors Amy McAllister and Amarachi Rachel Nwokoro read extracts from Want.

We weren’t sure what to expect but this was an excellent event with some wonderful conversations around fantasies.

I would recommend picking up a copy of Want.





Not the greatest picture but the best I could get while avoiding the hordes trying to pass gifts to Gillian Anderson.