Last October, the New Zealand novelist Eleanor Catton became the youngest ever winner of the Man Booker Prize. Her epic 832-page murder mystery' The Luminaries', set in the New Zealand gold rush of 1866, has been praised as ‘dazzling, luminous, vast’, ‘carefully executed, relentlessly clever, easy to read’, and ‘breathtakingly ambitious’. The novel, which each of the Man Booker judges read three times, combines intricate plotting with compassionate wisdom about the human condition. At an exclusive London event – jointly hosted by the RSL, the Australia & New Zealand Festival of Literature & Arts and Intelligent Life magazine – Robert Macfarlane, bestselling travel writer and chair of the 2013 Man Booker judges, interviews Catton for the first time. He asks how she did it, and what comes next.

Eleanor Catton in conversation With Robert Macfarlane

Founded in 1820, the RSL acts as a voice for the value of literature, honouring and supporting emerging and established writers whilst creating a bridge between authors and audiences of all backgrounds and experiences to engage as many people as possible with the wealth of literature in the UK.

Eleanor Catton in conversation With Robert Macfarlane

Royal Society Literature