Fiona Mozley to kick off York Literature Festival

Posted on 8 March 2018

Fiona Mozley, a University of York PhD student whose debut novel was shortlisted for the 2017 Man Booker Prize, will be speaking at the launch of the York Literature Festival on 15 March.

Fiona’s appearance kick starts a 12-day programme of events celebrating the written and spoken word, with a focus on history and historical fiction.

Fiona, who is studying for a PhD in Medieval Studies at the University of York was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize for her novel Elmet. The book tells the story of a father and his two children, living in South Yorkshire on the margins of society. The father, a bare-knuckle boxer, builds a house in a copse, but quickly comes into conflict with the landowners.

The festival launch event is a celebration of writers from York and also marks the official opening of the York Centre for Writing at York St John University – where the event will take place.

Highlights

Rob O’Connor, Director of the York Literature Festival, said: “The 2018 programme celebrates the varied history of the beautiful city of York. This year is also the 200th anniversary of the publication of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and we are hosting a number of events including our ‘Monsters’ creative writing competition organised by the Mount School for all school-age children.”

Further highlights of the festival include a book launch with writer and broadcaster Lucy Worsley, a talk exploring the power of mystical tradition with historian and presenter Dr Janina Ramirez ”; and Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, the UK’s first Muslim Cabinet Minister and author of “The Enemy Within: A Tale of Muslim Britain” who will be speaking about her account of growing up in Britain as a child of immigrants.

The festival launch is on Thursday 15 March from 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm. Tickets cost £8.

Many festival events are free. To download the festival programme visit:www.yorkliteraturefestival.co.uk