Jonathan Coe is a middle aged white man, with grey hair and a short grey beard. He wears a black shirt.
Talks & Ideas

Online box office closes at 4pm. Tickets available on arrival at the venue. 

One of the finest and funniest chroniclers of modern England comes to Belfast International Arts Festival for the first time to read from and talk about his new novel Bournville.

His new state-of-the-nation novel covers 75 years of social change – from James Bond to Princess Diana, from wartime nostalgia to the world wide web – and a nation’s love affair with chocolate, as seen by four generations of a family in Birmingham. Jonathan Coe was born a few miles from Bournville. He is the author of political satires including What a Carve Up! and Number 11, as well as family sagas such as The Rotters’ Club trilogy. His novels have won prizes at home and abroad including the Costa Novel of the Year and the Prix du Livre Européen.

Chaired by John Self

Note: Our conversation with Jonathan Coe will be captioned live by Pauline Matthew. Spoken words will be converted into text and displayed on screens close to the stage. Made possible thanks to support from Halifax Foundation For Northern Ireland.


Image credit – Penguin Books UK