ILFU welcomes award-winning author Jennifer Egan and Booker Prize winner Douglas Stuart to Utrecht on 20 May 2020 for a unique double Book Talk. Both authors published new novels in early April, each commenting on (Western) society in its own way. In doing so, the novels align with the mission of the online platform for stories that ILFU also launched in early April, with the motto 'fiction to the facts'.
Jennifer Egan, author of, among others Visit from the bang squad (Visit From The Goon Squad) and Manhattan Beach, is visiting the Netherlands to mark the publication of her new novel, The candy house, by Uitgeverij De Arbeiderspers. Egan will be interviewed by author Nina Polak during the evening. Douglas Stuart won with his previous novel Shuggie Bain the prestigious Booker Prize. His new novel, Mungo, was recently published by Uitgeverij Nieuw Amsterdam. Stuart is interviewed by Thomas Heerma van Voss.
Fiction to the facts
ILFU (International Literature Festival Utrecht) launched new online platform for fiction last month. According to the initiators, fiction is at least as important for understanding the world as the facts we hear in the news. With contributions from writers, thinkers and poets, the platform aims to counterbalance the BNs, influencers and opinion makers who dominate the media. Writers such as Manon Uphoff, Lisa Weeda, Jennifer Egan, Ali Smith, Azar Nafisi, Samya Hafsaoui and Joost Oomen are contributing to the platform in the first two months. A thousand members are needed to keep the platform up and running and expand after that.
Egan and Stuart's novels exemplify the mission of the ILFU platform. Where Egan's The candy house explores the impact of technology on our identity, autonomy and on society, Stuart's Mungo a narrative about the limits of masculinity, violence against the LGBTQ+ community, sectarianism and religion.
The candy house
First of all, the ILFU Book Talk is dedicated to the publication of Egan's latest novel, The candy house, which appeared 5 April in translation by Arjaan van Nimwegen and Thijs van Nimwegen. In The candy house releases Egan characters Visit from the bang squad reappears. Bix Bouton, now not in the supporting role but in the lead role, is an entrepreneur and experiments with human memory. He brings Master of your Unconscious on the market. This technological programme gives you access to all your memories, and allows you to share these memories with everyone. But not everyone is enthusiastic. In linked stories, Egan weaves together the far-reaching consequences of Master of your Unconscious through the lives of several characters, whose paths cross several times. A nervously realistic exploration of the impact of tech, and a terrific examination of the role of fiction in the 21ste century. Jennifer Egan receives a laudation from Basje Boer this evening.
Mungo
During the second part of the evening, Douglas Stuart will talk about his new novel Mungo, which was published 7 April in translation by Josephine Ruitenberg and Kitty Pouwels by Uitgeverij Nieuw Amsterdam. Mungo tells the story of two young men, Protestant Mungo and Catholic James, who find each other in a friendship that grows into an impossible and dangerous love. To guard his safety and that of James, Mungo must do everything possible to keep his true identity hidden from those around him. In this work, Stuart questions the meaning of masculinity and also poignantly and poignantly describes the violence that queer people face. Douglas Suart is interviewed by author Thomas Heerma van Voss.
About Jennifer Egan
For Visit from the bang squad Jennifer Egan received the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award, among others. Her latest novel, Manhattan Beach, became an international bestseller, and was book of the month in the Netherlands, among others, at DWDD.
About Douglas Stuart
Douglas Stuart received for his semi-autobiographical debut novel Shuggie Bain completely unexpectedly the 2020 Booker Prize. It became a New York Times-bestseller and Stuart won several other literary prizes for the work in addition to the Booker Prize. The work overwhelmed both American and Dutch readers. More than 50,000 copies have now been sold in the Netherlands.
ILFU Book Talk with Jennifer Egan & Douglas Stuart
Location: Boothstraat 7, Utrecht.
Walk-in from 19:30
Commencement 20:00
Price: 15,- including coffee and tea
Price ILFU Members: 12,- including coffee and tea
About ILFU
ILFU (International Literature Festival Utrecht) has organised a grand, two-week literary festival every year since 2018 at the end of September, with writers from all over the world performing. Major programmes include YALFU (Young Adult Literature Festival Utrecht), the Belle van Zuylenlezing (held in recent years by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Margaret Atwood and Elena Ferrante) and the NK Poetry Slam. The festival concludes annually with the Night of Poetry. The festival has been announced for 23 September to 8 October 2022.
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