Public tickets are free and will be available on the door from 6pm. No registration is required and seats will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. 

By the end of this century, some experts predict, most species of seabird will be extinct. What can writers and scientists do to prevent this? What is the relationship of the scientific to the non-scientific imagination? Working together, can scientists and writers re-associate the analytical and imaginative aspects of understanding? Is empathy the friend or enemy of understanding the birds? And how can we step beyond anthropomorphism into somewhere that recognises the equal co-presence of these animals in the world? Professor Tim Birkhead FRS is a zoologist of behaviour and evolution at the University of Sheffield. Adam Nicolson FRSL is the prizewinning author of books about history, landscape, literature and the sea. The Seabird’s Cry, published in June, was described in the FT as ‘nothing less than a masterpiece’. Their conversation is chaired by writer and broadcaster Claudia Hammond.

This event is supported by a donor who wishes to remain anonymous.