Dystopian Novel Debate

Regarded as prophetic or scaremongering, dystopian fiction has long provided a context for exploring the ethical issues surrounding scientific and political developments. Our panel of leading novelists will be talking about their recent work and discussing the function of dystopian fiction in this fascinating debate chaired by Professor Trevor Cox. Sarah Hall’s most recent novel, The Carhullan Army (Faber), weaves related threads of environmentalism, feminism and fanaticism. Her first novel, Haweswater, won the Commonwealth Writers Prize and her second, The Electric Michelangelo, was shortlisted for the MAN Booker Prize. Martyn Bedford is a fiction critic for the Literary Review. His latest novel, The Island of Lost Souls (Bloomsbury) is set in a country at international war. Maggie Gee has published many novels to great acclaim, including My Cleaner and The White Family, which was shortlisted for the Orange and IMPAC prizes. Her novel, The Ice People (Telegram), is set in a futuristic Ice Age.

* Joint tickets for the Dystopian Novel Debate and Feeling the Pressure can be purchased for the special price of £7 / £4 concessions.