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One of our greatest living writers, Julian Barnes, discusses his life and work and accepts the Sunday Times Award for Literary Excellence from the newspaper’s literary editor, Andrew Holgate.

Barnes is author of numerous novels, essays and stories and has won the highest literary accolades in the UK, France, the United States, and across Europe. In France, he is the only writer to have won both the Prix Fémina and the Prix Médicis and he was also made a Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. His most recent novel, The Sense of an Ending, won the Booker Prize in 2011. Chair of the judges Dame Stella Rimington said it had ‘the makings of a classic of English literature. It is exquisitely written, subtly plotted and reveals new depths with each reading.’

Barnes’s other novels include Metroland; Flaubert’s Parrot; A History of the World in 10½ Chapters; and Arthur & George. His most recent publication is Through the Window, a collection of essays on the books and authors that have meant most to him throughout his career.

He will discuss his work with acclaimed biographer and literary scholar Professor Hermione Lee. Lee has written biographies of Edith Wharton and Virginia Woolf and is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, of the British Academy and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is a past chair of the judging panel for the Booker award.