Sofia Khan, Queenie and the ghost of Bridget Jones, with Ayisha Malik, Candice Carty-Williams and Helen Lederer
Billed as the Muslim Bridget Jones, Ayisha Malik’s Sofia Khan is Not Obliged is Cityread Festival’s 2019 choice to be London’s collective page turner throughout May. A hilarious romantic comedy, it follows its protagonist into ‘the weird and wonderful world of Muslim dating’, exploring British Muslim identity along the way.
Billed as the Black Bridget Jones, Candice Carty-Williams Queenie is 2019’s most hotly anticipated debut novel. A darkly comic and unflinchingly raw depiction of a young woman trying to navigate her way in the world, Queenie is about identity, independence and carving your own path.
In conversation with Helen Lederer, both authors discuss multicultural identity, female experience, giving voice to characters rarely seen in literature and why we keep coming back to Bridget Jones.
In partnership with Cityread.
Ayisha Malik is a British Muslim whose novels Sofia Khan is Not Obliged and The Other Half of Happiness have met with critical acclaim. Her third novel This Green and Pleasant Land publishes in June 2019. She is also the ghostwriter for The Great British Bake Off winner, Nadiya Hussain.
Candice Carty-Williams is a marketer, author and journalist based in London. She is a Penguin Books Write Now mentor, contributes regularly to Refinery29, BEAT Magazine, the Guardian and i-D and 2016, she created and launched the Guardian and 4th Estate BAME Short Story Prize. Queenie is her first novel.
Helen Lederer is a writer, actor and comedian. Probably best known for her role as the dippy ‘Catriona’ in ‘Absolutely Fabulous’, she is also a columnist, stand-up, agony aunt, TV show panellist and the ‘brains’ behind Comedy Women in Print, a new literary award.
Cityread London is an annual festival, which promotes the key ideas of reading for pleasure, engaging new library users, enhancing the experience of existing readers, and encouraging people to explore and celebrate London’s culture, landscape and history through its stories.
Doors and drinks: 6.30pm
Talk and Q&A: 7.15pm
Book signing: 8.15pm
Event ends: 8.30pm
Please note, entry will not be permitted before 6.30pm.
Prices
Library member: £12
Non member: £18
Under 26 member: £6
Under 26 non member: £9
Groups: buy 4 or more tickets and get 1 free!
Tickets
