Adam Farrer & Jon Ransom: Washed Up on the East Coast

Meet two authors who explore class and community – on both mental and geographical levels. Adam Farrer won the 2021 Northbound Book Award with Cold Fish Soup, a darkly hilarious non-fiction debut, forming a memoir out of essays about life in a downtrodden Yorkshire coastal town. Jon Ransom’s The Whale Tattoo is a haunting debut novel set in a Norfolk seaside town brimming with bottled up resentment. When a giant sperm whale washes up on the local beach and speaks to Joe Gunner, he decides to return to his fraught childhood home. These books and their authors speak to the strange powers to waters to shape lives and memory.

Book Festival News

Communities Programme participants celebrate success of 2024 Communities Programme participants celebrate success of 2024
Friday 13 December

Enjoying this event? You can help us produce more like it.

Donate

Share

Watch more

Peter Pomerantsev & Marianna Spring: Trial by Misinformation Peter Pomerantsev & Marianna Spring: Trial by Misinformation Two titanic voices in the analysis of booming misinformation and conspiracy theories, Peter Pomerantsev and Marianna Spring, come together for an essential summit on one of the great dangers of our time, in conversation with Maddison Connaughton… David Wengrow: Reimagining Prehistory David Wengrow: Reimagining Prehistory It’s a pervasive belief that early human history involved a pivotal bargain; when cities and agriculture developed, primitive hunter-gatherers exchanged their freedom and equality for the hierarchies of civilisation. This is far from the truth, argue… Elizabeth Knox: The Political Force of Fantasy Elizabeth Knox: The Political Force of Fantasy In January 2020, an article appeared on Slate with the headline, 'This New Zealand Fantasy Masterpiece Needs to Be Published in America, Like, Now.' The article went viral with readers as they raced to order 'the majestic, brain-bending novel' from New… Should Capitalism Survive Climate Change? Should Capitalism Survive Climate Change? As COVID-19 has spread, the varying responses from the world’s governments has demonstrated catastrophic disparity and underpreparedness. In the push for growth and the prioritisation of short-term economic gain, the most vulnerable communities have been… James Naughtie: When Knowledge Could Be Deadly James Naughtie: When Knowledge Could Be Deadly James Naughtie has witnessed much political skulduggery as a special correspondent for BBC News, and he’s put this knowledge to use in his gripping spy thriller series. Today, Naughtie introduces The Spy Across the Water: the third outing for the Flemyng… Aravind Adiga (2017 event) Aravind Adiga (2017 event) The last debut novelist to win the Man Booker Prize (in 2008 with White Tiger), Aravind Adiga now brings us Selection Day, widely held to be even better. In this event filmed live at the 2017 Edinburgh International Book Festival, he tells us about his… Julian Aguon & Nina Mingya Powles: Making Environmental Politics Personal Julian Aguon & Nina Mingya Powles: Making Environmental Politics Personal Julian Aguon has witnessed first-hand the impact of globalisation and colonialism on the island of Guam in the Western Pacific. In a bid to support the struggles of peoples across Oceania, the human rights lawyer has founded Blue Ocean Law, working at the… Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie with Nicola Sturgeon (2017 Event) Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie with Nicola Sturgeon (2017 Event) Dividing her time between Nigeria and the USA, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has become one of the world’s most internationally-respected authors. After three acclaimed novels including Half of a Yellow Sun and Americanah, her most recent title, Dear Ijeawale… Reverend Jesse Jackson (2015 Event) Reverend Jesse Jackson (2015 Event) One of the best-respected and most formidable civil rights activists of the 20th century, the Reverend Jesse Jackson worked for Martin Luther King in the 1960s. During his later political career, he specialised in high-profile international diplomacy… Caroline Lucas: Reimagining England Caroline Lucas: Reimagining England Twice leader of the Green Party in England and Wales, and the Member of Parliament for Brighton Pavilion from 2010 until she steps down at the next general election, Caroline Lucas this year launches her second book Another England, which fights back…