The Two Roberts: In Conversation with Damian Barr hosted by Jackie Kay

The Two Roberts: In Conversation with Damian Barr
Hosted by Jackie Kay

Sunday, 15th September, Queer Lit, Manchester
Doors open at 6:00 PM | Event starts at 7:00 PM

Join us for a special evening celebrating The Two Roberts, the much-anticipated new novel from award-winning writer and broadcaster Damian Barr. In conversation with Jackie Kay, Damian will share the stories and inspirations behind the book, reflect on queer histories, and explore the power of art, friendship, and love.

Damian Barr is the award-winning author of Maggie & Me and You Will Be Safe Here. Known for his insightful, moving, and often sharply witty writing, he has become a leading voice in British literature. He is also the presenter of the BBC’s Big Scottish Book Club, and his world-famous Literary Salon ran from 2008 to 2023.

Jackie Kay is an acclaimed poet, novelist, and former Makar (Scotland’s national poet). Her work, including Trumpet and Red Dust Road, has won numerous awards for its emotional depth, political resonance, and lyrical power.

Copies of The Two Roberts will be available to purchase and Damian will be signing books after the event.

Tickets are limited – early booking recommended!

Reviews:

‘The Two Roberts is the greatest and truest story of two male lovers I have ever read. A masterpiece. The celebration of these men while staring down their every relentless failing is world class. What an act of the imagination! It’s wonderful, beautiful, heartbreaking, inspiring, honest, true, vital and magnificent. They live, they love, they fight, they sing, they fight naked and drunk, this is truly a literary miracle to look atthese men and create them anew with such love, but such a tough, cold eye too’

RUSSELL T DAVIES

'Barr proves that Glasgow has many stories to tell. A funny, charming book that crackles with creative rebellion. It is a pleasure to read and there is real joy in discovering the forgotten history of these working-class antiheroes'

DOUGLAS STUART

‘Vivid and alive. A truly great story penned by one of Scotland's finest writers’

JENNI FAGAN

'Working-class life and artistic Bohemia collide in this novel of all-consuming passion and the torture of creation. Brilliantly written, poignant and powerful. This is Damian Barr’s chef-d’oeuvre'

IAN RANKIN

‘A full-blown treat, historical fiction that brings to life unjustly neglected figures of queer art’

PATRICK GALE

‘Epic and touching’

DAVID NICHOLLS

‘Extraordinary. Barr is a gifted storyteller and a miraculous scene painter . . . The Two Roberts feels fresh and nuanced and entirely new’

CURTIS GARNER

‘A love story that grips and refuses to let go. Astonishingly deft’

JON COURTENAY GRIMWOOD