Fascinating Non Fiction
About our events
From the Bard to the Barrowlands, forensics to football – the best of the year’s non-fiction offers revolutions, revelations, and the intimate human stories behind the headlines.
How many FOI requests does it take to tell an accurate story? Andrew Lownie’s Entitled meticulously charts the rise and fall of the modern House of York, while Oliver Bullough explains how dirty money is buying up democracy.
Fiction writers turn to new forms as the legendary Anne Enright enriches us with her essays from across the decades, novelist Mark Haddon reveals the darkly hilarious story of his own childhood, and Louis de Bernières uses his diaries to reflect on his writing life.
Simon Kuper shares the thrill of being at every World Cup since 1990; Nandini Das presents Tudor England anew via its international connections; and in an age of impunity, when violent actions seemingly go unchecked, human rights barrister Philippe Sands reflects on a decade since the publication of East West Street.
Intimate events collide with public narratives as Darren McGarvey examines how personal stories are exploited for wider consumption and David Turner shares untold journeys of disability and resistance from history. Stephen McGinty recounts the devastating events at Dunblane Primary School and examines their legacy, while Baroness Brenda Hale unpacks how the law can be used to protect all of our rights.
List of Events
Garth Cartwright & Madeline Potter: The Travelling Life
Caroline Eden talks to two writers shedding light on the experiences and vibrant traditions of Romani communities in Europe. Madeline…
Turi King: The Secrets of Our DNA
Renowned genealogist Professor Turi King uses her renowned skills to reshape our understanding of our ancestors, from unearthing their…
Simon Kuper: World Cup Fever
This August, doubtless hot on the heels of Scotland’s victorious 2026 campaign (!), sports journalist Simon Kuper joins us with World Cup…
Margaret Busby: Part of the Story
The UK’s first Black female publisher and editor of groundbreaking anthologies Daughters of Africa and New Daughters of Africa – it’s hard…
Ann Pettifor: The Global Casino
Political economist and director for PRIME, Ann Pettifor is famous for predicting the 2008 global financial crash. In this conversation she…
James Macintyre: Power with Purpose
His time in Number 10 may have been short, but more than 15 years since leaving Downing Street, Gordon Brown continues to wield significant…Peggy Brunache & Carrie Gibson: The Fight to be Free
Historian Carrie Gibson’s The Great Resistance chronicles thousands of acts of defiance in the fight to end slavery across the Americas and…Mairi Kidd, Marion Gibson & Steven Veerapen: The Witching Hour
At a time when women’s rights are once again at threat across the world, it’s perhaps no wonder that our fascination with the witch-hunts…
Sara Baume: Opening Night
What can friendship teach us about art – and art about friendship? In Opening Night, Sara Baume traces her growing bond with exiled…
Daniel Hahn: If This Be Magic
Why is Hamlet longer in Italian? How do you land a Shakespearean joke in German? And why are Lady Macbeth’s pronouns such a headache? In If…
Caroline Elton: Looking After
Born in the 1940s, when autism was barely understood, Lionel was treated as ‘a peculiarity’. Looking After is his life story told by…
So Mayer: Bad Language
Language shapes the structures of our world: Who gets to speak? Who is silenced? Who is harmed in this imbalance? In their stunning blend…
Darren McGarvey: Trauma Industrial Complex
What makes us share our inner world with strangers? Darren McGarvey is a broadcaster, hip-hop artist, and campaigner, and his newest book,…
Masud Husain: Our Brains, Our Selves
The brain’s workings are essential to our identity, says Oxford neurology professor Masud Husain, winner of 2025’s Royal Society Science…Andrew Lownie: The Rise and Fall of the House of York
Royal biographies are commonly drama-filled but in Andrew Lownie’s Entitled, scandal, corruption, and cover-ups take centre stage. The…
Nick Barber & Helen Pilcher: The Mind-Body Connection
An eye-opening conversation on the psychology of medicine. Pharmaceutical expert Nick Barber offers a guide for how to make the most of…
Kulbhushansingh Suryawanshi: The Ghost of the Mountains
There’s only a handful of people who have been anywhere near the vicinity of a snow leopard, and this event will probably be the closest…
Nandini Das: This Little World
British Academy Book Prize-winner, Nandini Das, is Professor of Early Modern Literature and Culture at Oxford University. Her newest work,…The Good Immigrant: 10 Years On
Featuring powerful and impassioned writing by 21 writers of colour, The Good Immigrant unflinchingly interrogates what it really means to…
Jarred McGinnis: There Is No Meant to Be
Outlaw ancestors, family ghosts, a near-fatal accident, and a refusal to behave like a proper memoir: Jarred McGinnis’ There Is No Meant to…
Sarah Perry: Death of an Ordinary Man
In Death of an Ordinary Man – an unflinching, tender work of non-fiction – Sarah Perry trains her gaze on the dying process itself, taking…
Andrew Durbin: The Wonderful World That Almost Was
The Wonderful World That Almost Was explores the lives of two key figures in New York’s art scene. Penned by Frieze magazine editor, Andrew…
Charlotte Higgins: Ukrainian Lessons
In 2022, Charlotte Higgins headed to Ukraine to cover a literary festival, an experience that transformed her life. Ukrainian Lessons: Art…