Last month, Julian Barnes finally won literature's most sought after gong, the Booker Prize, for The Sense of an Ending. Our main reaction was: he hadn't won it already? Is the world mad?
Barnes is one of the rare writers who can produce work that's beautiful, stabbingly insightful and also sniggering-in-public-places funny. His backlist - Arthur & George, Metroland, Flaubert's Parrot to name but a few - is worth properly exploring rather than dipping into, and you can hear him talk all about it at the Institute of Engineering and Technology next Thursday.
It's his only public appearance this year, all to raise funds for Freedom from Torture, who provide medical care to victims of torture and work to protect and promote their rights. So not only are you having an evening out (and getting a book signed), you're helping a good cause.
Julian Barnes is at the IET, 2 Savoy Place, at 7.30pm on Thursday 8th December. Tickets cost £18 and all proceeds from tickets and book sales go to Freedom from Torture. Image of Julian Barnes copyright Alan Edwards.
