Tony Benn

Nicholas Parsons (2010 event) Chatting to chair Al Senter, the inimitable Nicholas Parsons showed that the oldest gameshow host ever still retains his famous ability to entertain. A sold out event packed with fans, the British legend discussed life in the public eye to an enthusiastic… Paul Durcan (2012 event) 'If there were a prize for best reader of one’s own poems, Paul Durcan would probably win it hands down,' proclaimed the… Jackie Kay An hour of pure pleasure with multi-talented poet, playwright, novelist, storywriter, children's author and broadcaster, Jackie Kay. In this 2008 event she discusses her latest collection of poetry Darling, which gets to the heart of love with exquisite… Henrietta Bowden-Jones, Erin Saltman & Åsne Seierstad with Lennie Goodings (2015 Event) What draws women to the extremes of war? Åsne Seierstad, acclaimed author of The Bookseller of Kabul and a seasoned war reporter, talks about being on the frontline; Erin Saltman, Senior Counter Extremism Researcher from the Institute for Strategic… Sebastian Barry After being awarded the coveted Costa Book of the Year Award earlier in the year for his incredibly moving novel The Secret Scripture, Irish writer Sebastian Barry went on to receive the James Tait Black Prize for Fiction too, which was announced in a… George the Poet (2015 Event) George Mpanga is the 24 year old Cambridge-educated wordsmith who has attracted attention and accolades with his socio-political verse and urban beats, including a nomination for the BBC Music Sound of 2015… Kirstin Innes reading Horror Story Kirstin Innes' Horror Story is just one of a whole series of podcasts of leading authors reading their stories on the theme of 'Elsewhere'… Andrew O'Hagan A magnificently intelligent essayist, novelist, critic, and a mesmerising speaker. Andrew O'Hagan talks to Magnus Linklater in this 2008 event about politics, Scotland and his recent collection of reportage on a declining Britain and a rising America, The… Dag Solstad (2018 Event) One of Norway’s most celebrated contemporary writers joins us with his latest novel, T Singer. Set in the small Norwegian town of Notodden, Dag Solstad's story is a heartbreaking account of love and loneliness, which lays bare the existential… Yasmin Alibhai-Brown and Bidisha (2015 Event) Yasmin Alibhai-Brown is one of Britain’s most important commentators on multiculturalism: in Exotic England she describes ‘a curious nation’ that has developed thanks to its long history of immigration. Bidisha is a writer and human…