Irish Writers' Weekend: Maggie O'Farrell

Maggie O'Farrell is in conversation with Martin Doyle at the Pigott Theatre on Friday 27 November, the opening night of the Irish Writers' Weekend at the British Library. O'Farrell was born in Northern Ireland and raised in Wales and Scotland, and she's become one of Britain's most acclaimed contemporary fiction writers. Her 2020 novel Hamnet took home the Waterstones Book of the Year and the Women's Prize for Fiction, and she co-wrote the screenplay for its Academy Award-nominated film adaptation, directed by Chloé Zhao.

The talk focuses on her tenth novel, Land, an epic tale of place, colonisation and rebellion inspired by her own family history. She'll be discussing it alongside her 2017 memoir, I Am, I Am, I Am, so the evening pulls from both her latest fiction and her non-fiction. Martin Doyle, Books Editor of The Irish Times, will be the one leading the conversation.

The evening kicks off the Irish Writers' Weekend, the third biennial celebration of Irish writing to return to the British Library, supported by Culture Ireland. It runs across the weekend with further sessions in the Pigott Theatre and the Eliot Room, bilingual Irish-English sessions presented by Conradh na Gaeilge, a comedy writers special, a Scenes and Monologues session from the Irish Creative Collective, and a Phlox Books stall with author signings throughout. This particular talk isn't included in the weekend passes, so you'll need a separate ticket for it.

It runs from 19:00 to 20:15, with doors opening at 18:00, and it's available to watch online as well as in person at the Pigott Theatre in the British Library Knowledge Centre. In-person tickets are £21, with concessions available, and online tickets start from £5.