“I borrowed a typewriter from a neighbour. I typed for 14 hours a day until I had a full manuscript. After I had written The End, I locked it in a flight case and vowed never to look at it again, or discuss its contents with anyone. With that one act that note turned into a book that kept me alive.”
Join Granta Best of Young British Novelist Jenni Fagan, one of Scotland’s most arresting writers, for a conversation with Pip Adam about writing her memoir, Ootlin, and what it shows us about the power of creation.
About Ootlin:
The government told a story about me before I was born.
Jenni Fagan was property of the state before birth. She drew her first breath in care and by the age of seven, she had lived in fourteen different homes and had her name changed multiple times. Twenty years after her first attempt to write this powerful memoir, Jenni is finally ready to share her account. Ootlin is a journey through the broken UK care system - it is one of displacement and exclusion, but also of the power of storytelling. It is about the very human act of making meaning from adversity.
‘Beautiful, deep, transfixing . . . it will burn a home in your heart' —LEMN SISSAY
'Essential reading, life-changing' —SAMANTHA MORTON
'An astonishing piece of work. I tore through it, and it through me. I will never, ever forget it’—NIALL GRIFFITHS
‘One of the most stunning literary experiences I’ve had in years’ — Irvine Welsh on Luckenbooth
The ‘Ticket + book’ bundles are available until 12:00pm on Thursday 7 November. Unity will be at events across the festival for book sales and signings.
A discounted ‘Ticket + book’ bundle is available for a copy of Ootlin by Jenni Fagan. If purchased, your book can be collected from Unity Books, 57 Willis Street, Wellington in advance of the festival, or at the event from Unity's book table.
Tickets from $19
