Living History: in conversation with Nick Barlay and Eve Harris

Representation in literature raises many issues for writers: how to portray the living; how to represent people on the page; how to respond to questions about accuracy and truth. Authors Nick Barlay and Eve Harris read from their new works, and discuss cultural and racial identity in fiction and non-fiction, as well as the second-generation backgrounds that inform their outlook. Nick Barlay was born in London in 1963 to Hungarian Jewish parents who escaped to Britain in 1956. He is the author of four acclaimed novels, and was once on the Granta list of twenty best young writers until it was discovered that he was too old to be young. He has also written wide-ranging journalism. Scattered Ghosts is the non-fiction story of his family over two centuries through war, Holocaust and revolution. Eve Harris was born to Israeli-Polish parents in Chiswick, West London, in 1973. She taught for 12 years at inner-city comprehensives and independent schools in London and also in Tel Aviv, after moving to Israel in 1999. She returned to London in 2002 to resume teaching at an all girls' Catholic convent school. The Marrying of Chani Kaufman was inspired by her final year of teaching at an all girls' ultra-Orthodox Jewish school in North West London. Eve lives in London with her husband, Jules, and their daughter Rosie.

Source: http://www.culture24.org.uk/am52233?id=EVENT450921