The RSL is taking bookings from Members and Fellows only. Public tickets are available from the British Library website.

Edward Said wrote, 'All knowledge that is about human society, and not about the natural world, is historical knowledge, and therefore rests upon judgment and interpretation.' 

How do writers take on the limitations of history and knowledge in historical fiction? Who gets to voice our histories? As the RSL celebrates its 200th year, three writers discuss the complexities of inhabiting other voices and what it means to restore incomplete historical narratives. In Sara Collins’ Costa First Novel Award-winning The Confessions of Frannie Langton, a Jamaican girl tells her story of love, violence and power in 1826 London. In his Wellcome Prize-winning Murmur, Will Eaves gives voice to Alan Turing’s inner life, exploring the very nature of consciousness. In Augustown, Kei Miller makes a modern fable of 19th and 20th century Jamaican history, exploring emancipation and colonialism. Their discussion is chaired by broadcaster and writer Aida Edemariam, whose first book, The Wife’s Tale, won both an RSL Jerwood Award and the RSL Ondaatje Prize.

We are grateful to the Royal Literary Fund for sponsoring this event.