RSL 200 is the Royal Society of Literature’s bicentenary event series bringing together some of the world’s best-known writers to explore the impact of literature on their lives. Neil Gaiman and Marlon James, two of the most revered fantasy writers of their generation, share a life-long love of the mythic and the transcendent power of imagination. In a unique conversation about why literature matters to them, the literary cult heroes explore the importance of escapism, and the value of spending time in invented worlds.

This truly transatlantic conversation was presented in partnership with the British Library.

Neil Gaiman is an author of books for children and adults whose titles include Norse Mythology, American Gods, The Graveyard Book, Good Omens (with Terry Pratchett), Coraline, and the Sandman graphic novels. Neil Gaiman is also a Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR and Professor in the Arts at Bard College.

Marlon James is the author of the New York Times bestseller A Brief History of Seven Killings, The Book of Night Women, and John Crow’s Devil. A Brief History of Seven Killings won the Man Booker Prize, the American Book Award and the Anisfield-Wolf Award for Fiction, and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award.