Boyd Tonkin and Elena Lappin

Leading literary critic Boyd Tonkin and memoirist and novelist Elena Lappin explore how, and why, we navigate the planet of words and discover other literary worlds.

Tonkin’s recent book, The Hundred Best Novels in Translation, spans the globe to select and present 100 great works of fiction written over the past 400 years – featuring books written in 25 languages and from 40 different countries, ranging from Mexico to Indonesia and Finland to Sudan. Lappin’s most recent book is What Language Do I Dream In?, which describes her birth in Russia, life as an émigré in Czechoslovakia, Germany, Israel, Canada, and the United States, and how she found her writing voice in the English language. Together they will talk about the benefits of crossing borders in literature and language – and how we can try to make sense of the world’s infinite variety of stories.

Tonkin writes for a range of national publications, including the Financial Times Life & Arts, and contributes to BBC radio. He is a special adviser to, and former chair of, the Man Booker International Prize, and a trustee of the Orwell Foundation. Lappin is at writer and editor whose books also include The Nose and Foreign Brides.