Description
Who has the right to tell stories? Should they only be told by those who experience them, or does this silence voices that deserve to be heard?
These are questions that go to the heart of the nature of storytelling and one that our panel of esteemed writers and experts, including Kit de Waal and Ayisha Malik, will explore.
They will dive into this hotly debated topic and whether a “stay in your lane” perspective serves to edify marginalised writers, or pigeonhole them. We will also explore the fetishization of diverse writers, and the voices elevated to create a more equitable and inclusive literary landscape. Join us for what promises to be a thought-provoking and engaging event.
About the Authors
Kit De Waal
Kit de Waal, born to an Irish mother and Caribbean father, was brought up among theIrish community of Birmingham in the ‘60s and ‘70s.
Her debut novel My Name Is Leon was an international bestseller, shortlisted for theCosta First Novel Award, longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize and won the KerryGroup Irish Novel of the Year Award for 2017. In 2022 it was adapted for television by the BBC.
Her second novel, The Trick to Time, was longlisted for the Women’s Prize and her young adult novel Becoming Dinah was shortlisted for the Carnegie CLIP Award 2020. A collection of short stories, Supporting Cast was published in 2020. An anthology of working-class memoir, Common People was crowdfunded and edited by Kit in 2019.
Kit founded her own TV production company, Portopia Productions and the Big Book Weekend, a free digital literary festival in 2020 and was named the FutureBook Person of the Year 2019.
Kit is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and Professor and Writer in Residence at Leicester University. Her memoir Without Warning and Only Sometimes was published in August 2022.
Ayisha Malik
Ayisha Malik is author of critically acclaimed novels Sofia Khan is Not Obliged, The Other Half of Happiness, This Green and Pleasant Land and The Movement. Ayisha was a WHSmith Fresh Talent Pick and Sofia Khan was a CityReads London book. She is winner of The Diversity Book Awards and has been shortlisted for The Asian Women of Achievement Award, Marie Claire’s Future Shapers’ Awards and the h100 Awards. She is also the recipient of the Society of Authors’ Travelling Scholarship. Sofia Khan is not Obliged and The Movement are optioned for television.
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