Literature: Raymond Carver

"If we're lucky, writer and reader alike, we'll finish the last line of a short story and then just sit for a minute quietly," wrote Raymond Carver. "Our body temperature will have gone up, or down, by a degree. Then, we'll collect ourselves and go on to the next thing: life. Always life."

It's been 10 years since Carver's untimely death at the age of 50. To mark the occasion, writers including Julian Barnes, Blake Morrison and Graham Swift are lining up to read their favourite Carver stories at a sparkling memorial event. If you enjoyed Altman's film version of Carver's Short Cuts, discover quite how much your body temperature can soar hearing his other stories. Full of life. Always life.

An Evening for Raymond Carver, Battersea Town Hall, Lavender Hill, London SW11 (0171-836 6757) Tues 8pm.

`Where I'm Calling From: The Selected Stories of Raymond Carver' is published by Harvill at pounds 16.99 and available in Waterstones only

Judith Palmer