Bloomsbury at 35: Abdulrazak Gurnah and Alexandra Pringle in conversation (In person and online)
2021 Nobel Laureate in Literature Abdulrazak Gurnah joins Alexandra Pringle, Executive Editor at Bloomsbury, in conversation, celebrating both Bloomsbury’s 35-year anniversary and Pringle’s incredible career in publishing, from which she is retiring this year. Pringle first published Gurnah twenty years ago at Bloomsbury and has championed his work ever since. In conversation with Yassmin Abdel-Magied, they will discuss the journey they have taken in tandem to be at the very top of their respective games, the changes publishing has seen over that time, Gurnah’s literary output and what the future holds.
Abdulrazak Gurnah is the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature 2021. He is the author of ten novels, including Paradise (shortlisted for the Booker Prize and the Whitbread Award), By the Sea (longlisted for the Booker Prize and shortlisted for the Los Angeles Times Book Award), Desertion (shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize) and Afterlives, which was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize for Fiction 2021 and longlisted for the Walter Scott Prize. He was Professor of English at the University of Kent and was a Man Booker Prize judge in 2016.
Alexandra Pringle was Editor-in-Chief of Bloomsbury Publishing for 20 years and is now Executive Editor. She began her career on the art magazine Art Monthly and joined Virago Press in 1978, becoming Editorial Director in 1984. After stints as Editorial Director at Hamish Hamilton and as a literary agent, she joined Bloomsbury in 1999. Her list of authors includes Margaret Atwood, Richard Ford, Jhumpa Lahiri, George Saunders, Kamila Shamsie, Patti Smith and Abdulrazak Gurnah. She has Honorary Degrees of Doctor of Letters from Anglia Ruskin University and Warwick University.
Yassmin Abdel-Magied is a writer, speaker on politics, society, culture and technology and an award-winning social advocate. Her books include two middle grade novels, You Must Be Layla and Listen, Layla, which she is now adapting for screen, and Talking About a Revolution, an urgent critique of contemporary culture. Her critically acclaimed essays have been published widely, including in the bestselling It’s Not About The Burqa and The New Daughters of Africa. She is a Trustee of The London Library.
Bloomsbury Publishing is celebrating its 35-year anniversary this year. A leading independent publishing house, with offices around the world, its authors have won the Nobel, Pulitzer and Booker Prizes and it is the originating publisher and custodian of the Harry Potter series.
Supported using public funding by Arts Council England.
Bloomsbury 35, edited by Alexandra Pringle and Liz Calder and Afterlives and other books by Abdulrazak Gurnah are available to purchase from our partner bookshop Hatchards.
N.B. This event will take place in person at The London Library in alignment with up-to-date government COVID recommendations. Please see our Event Access and COVID Guidelines before you arrive. Doors (and the bar) open at 7.00pm for a 7.30pm start. The event will be livestreamed through YouTube from 7.30pm and will be available to watch live or at any time after the event, using the same link.
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