A special preview of three new novels before they are published. Romesh Gunesekera will talk about Noontide Toll, a collection of stories which reveal a Sri Lanka moving forward after nearly 3 decades of conflict. Xialou Guo is one of Granta’s 2013 Best Young Authors. Her new novel, I Am China, is the story of young lovers separated during the Jasmine Revolution. Roopa Farooki’s The Good Children is a landmark epic of the South Asian immigrant experience, set in Pakistan, England and the US.
Originally from Sri Lanka, Romesh Gunesekera is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and the author of seven books. His first novel, Reef, was shortlisted for the 1994 Booker Prize. The Sandglass was winner of the inaugural BBC Asia Award; Heaven’s Edge and Monkfish Moon, were both the New York Times Notable Book of the Year. He has been a judge for a number of prestigious literary prizes including the David Cohen British Literature Prize and the Caine Prize for African Writing and the 2013 Granta list of the Best of Young British Novelists.
As well as being an author, Xiaolu Guo is a filmmaker whose work has premiered all over the world, most recently at the Venice Film Festival. Her many books include: A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers (shortlisted for the Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction), 20 Fragments of a Ravenous Youth (long-listed for the Man Asian Literary Prize), UFO in her Eyes and a collection of short stories, Lovers in the Age of Indifference. In 2013 she was named as one of Granta‘s Best of Young British Novelists.
Roopa Farooki was born in Lahore, Pakistan and brought up in London. She graduated from Oxford and worked in advertising before turning to write fiction. Bitter Sweets, her first novel, was nominated for the Orange Award for New Writers 2007. He other works include, The Way Things Look to Me, Half Life and The Flying Man. Roopa’s novels have been published internationally and translated into a dozen languages.
They will be speaking with Paul Blezard. Paul is a broadcaster, poet, writer and former Literary Editor of The Lady. He has chaired literary events at the world’s most prestigious festivals, interviewing everyone from US presidents to Nobel Prize winners.
