Andrew O’Hagan (15:30 BST)

From Ayrshire’s very own Andrew O’Hagan, the author of Mayflies, comes the new paperback publication of an irresistible, unputdownable, state-of-the-nation novel - the story of one man’s epic fall from grace.

Caledonian Road has been lauded by critics and readers alike as worthy of Dickens, Thackeray or Zola for its vast narrative sweep and sparkling satire and style. O’Hagan’s brilliant storytelling encompasses decadent aristocrats, Russian oligarchs, human traffickers and at its heart is the rise and fall of the on-trend, liberal academic, Campbell Flynn, pursued by his ruthless protégé.

In Mayflies and Caledonian Road, as well as in essays for the London Review of Books and the New Yorker, O’Hagan has forged a Scottish style of comedy and moral enquiry that has garnered him an international audience.

For this special keynote event at the Boswell Book Festival, O'Hagan will entertain us with a sparkling address ‘On Humour’. “Comedy is the beating heart of everything I write,” he says, “and the heart of the Scotland I grew up in.” Using his own work and the great traditions of homegrown satire, from Burns to Billy Connolly, the comedians of Scottish home life, O’Hagan sets out on a personal journey to prove that performance is the cornerstone of his own writing and our national literature.

Chaired by James Knox

Event sponsored by RNIB Connect Radio

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