Manchester Literature Festival has announced acclaimed writer Jhumpa Lahiri in conversation with MLF patron and award-winning novelist Kamila Shamsie. Also revealed is a third new Festival commission by poet Natalie Diaz.
The Festival launched its other Spring events last month with Kazuo Ishiguro and Jackie Kay in conversation about his new novel, Klara and The Sun alongside new writing commissions by poets Roger Robinson and Caleb Femi.
Jhumpa Lahiri & Kamila Shamsie in Conversation
20 May 2021
‘I’m both ablaze with energy and sapped of it.’ In Whereabouts, Jhumpa Lahiri’s stunning new novel, an unnamed woman, in an unnamed Italian city, assesses her daily life. Her friends, her work, her lovers, and the shadow of her father’s unexpected death. Jhumpa will be in conversation with novelist and MLF Patron Kamila Shamsie discussing her first novel to be written in Italian and translated into English by the author herself.
Jhumpa is the author of four works of fiction, including Unaccustomed Earth, Interpreter of Maladies and The Lowland which was shortlisted for both the Booker Prize and the Women’s Prize for Fiction. She is also the editor and one of the translators of The Penguin Book of Italian Short Stories which brings together forty writers that reflect over a hundred years of Italy’s vibrant and diverse short story tradition. Kamila is the acclaimed author of seven novels including Home Fire, which won the Women’s Prize for Fiction. The event is presented by Manchester Literature Festival in partnership with the Centre for New Writing and Creative Manchester.
This event will be first broadcast at 7.30pm on Thursday 20 May 2021 and available to watch for seven days. It will be pre-recorded and captioned.
Natalie Diaz
Hosted by Mary Jean Chan
22 April 2021
In a new commission written especially for Manchester Literature Festival, Natalie will present Radixes and Formations: a series of poetic sensualities exploring the words ‘origin’, ‘migration’, ‘freedom’ and ‘love’. A deeply lyrical poet, she will create linguistic maps of these words in English and Mojave, diving deep into their roots and the ways in which they echo in physical connection.
Natalie will perform her new poems for the first time, followed by a conversation about her work with poet Mary Jean Chan. Mary Jean is the author of Flèche, which was shortlisted for multiple awards and won the 2019 Costa Book Award for Poetry. This is one of a series of New Commissions supported by an award from the DCMS Culture Recovery Fund. Presented by Manchester Literature Festival in partnership with the Centre for New Writing and Creative Manchester.
‘Natalie Diaz is a poet who calls out to us in so many ways, who reaches out to embrace her lover, her people, and her country.’ Her most recent collection Postcolonial Love Poem explores body and land as sites of desire and longing, but also pain and erasure. It was shortlisted for the National Book Award and the Forward Prize in Poetry. Born and raised in the Fort Mojave Indian Village in Needles, California, on the banks of the Colorado river, Natalie is Mojave and an enrolled member of the Gila River Indian Tribe. She has received fellowships from The MacArthur Foundation, the Lannan Literary Foundation, the Native Arts Council Foundation, and Princeton University and was recently appointed to Academy of American Poets.
This event will be first broadcast at 7.30pm on Thursday 22 April 2021 and available to watch for seven days. It will be pre-recorded and captioned.
Tickets are on sale at 12 noon, Friday 19 March and can be booked in the following ways:
Jhumpa Lahri: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/jhumpa-lahiri-kamila-shamsie-in-conversation-tickets-144614544997
Natalie Diaz: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/natalie-diaz-tickets-144612003395
Via the Manchester Literature Festival website where all Spring programme events can be booked
Tickets for these events are priced as pay what you can: £6 (low income/concession), £12 (standard ticket) or £20 (per household). There are also some free tickets for Natalie Diaz for those that need them.
Any ticket revenue received will help Manchester Literature Festival survive this challenging time and deliver its annual festival in October 2021.
