Jane Harris and Sally Rooney

Belfast International Arts Festival is delighted to welcome to Belfast two exciting voices in literature today in conversation.

Jane Harris was born in Belfast and grew up in Scotland before moving to England in her 20s. Her first book The Observations was shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2007.  Her second novel Gillespie and I was shortlisted for the National Book Awards in 2011 and the Scottish Book Awards in 2012. She brings to Belfast her latest novel, Sugar Money, a bawdy and thrilling account of Martinique in 1765.

Sally Rooney was born in the west of Ireland in 1991. She studied English at Trinity College, Dublin, and her writing has been featured in The Dublin Review, The Stinging Fly, and Granta. Her debut novel, Conversations with Friends was published by Hogarth in July 2017 and is a sharply intelligent novel about friendship, lust, jealousy, and the unexpected complications of adulthood in the 21st century

John Self is one of NI’s leading book critics, writing for a number of publications including The Guardian, Times Literary Supplement, and The Independent. His work can be found at the Asylum Blog, https://theasylum.wordpress.com