Speakers: Elizabeth Buchan, Miranda Malins, Jane Thynne
Topic: What is the Point of Historical Fiction?
Venue: Vinson Lecture Theatre
Time: 11:30-12:30 Saturday 14 September
Talk Summary:
Due to the commercial success of works such as Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall Trilogy, historical fiction has been in vogue. But there is nothing new about a genre mastered by the likes of Shakespeare and dating back to the Ancient Greeks, the very beginning of western literature. Three practitioners of the art of historical fiction – Elizabeth Buchan, Miranda Malins and Jane Thynne – consider the challenges of the genre, talk about how they approach their work, and discuss the best – and the worst – of historical fiction..
Elizabeth Buchan was a fiction editor who, after the publication of her third novel, became a full-time writer, specialising in historical fiction. She has been a judge for Whitbread (now Costa) Awards, has chaired the Betty Trask and Desmond Elliot Awards and reviews for the Sunday Times.
Miranda Malins is the author of two highly acclaimed historical novels – The Puritan Princess and The Rebel Daughter – set in the 17th-century. She has a PhD from Cambridge University, co-hosts the podcast 1666 and All That, and is currently working on a history of the Cromwell family.
Jane Thynne worked as a journalist before becoming an acclaimed writer of historical fiction. Her latest book, Midnight in Vienna, is an espionage thriller set in London and Vienna in 1938, which was selected as a book of the week in the Financial Times and The Times.
