In this session Will Self will draw on his own personal experience as a writer to develop a theory of the relationship between isolation and the novel form: could it be that the novel is, besides many other things, the defining art form of the singular and unitary consciousness as self-conceived? If so, in a world in which we're always connected, will there be enough isolation to provide its psychic substratum?

Will Self is Professor of Contemporary Thought at Brunel University London and is the author of nine novels, six collections of short stories, three novellas and six non-fiction works. He is also a prolific journalist and a frequent broadcaster. His fiction has won various awards – as has his journalism. His fiction has been translated into over 22 languages, and he contributes to publications in Europe and the US as well as the UK.

Programme

5:15pm Doors open

5:30pm Will Self

6:30pm Reception and light refreshments