We are delighted to announce a new free event that brings the historical and the literary together: a live online interview with the renowned author A.N. Wilson to mark the release of his latest book.

The conversation will focus on the work of the famous German author, writer and philosopher Goethe, addressing his work as well as how Wilson has set about trying to capture Goethe's own obsession with the story of Faust. We will explore the process of writing a book about such a famous writer and thinker as well as how Goethe was able to tell a story that has had a timeless relevance. The audience will be able to ask questions via the Q&A format.

Goethe, His Faustian Life, is a ground-breaking biography of one of the most influential writers in history, and the masterpiece that changed the modern world. Award-winning biographer, critic and writer A. N. Wilson tells the spellbinding story of the life of Goethe with characteristic wit and verve. From his youth as a wild literary prodigy, to his later years as Germany’s most heroic intellectual figure, Wilson hones in on Goethe’s undying obsession with the work he would spend his entire life writing – Faust.

Goethe spent over 60 years writing his retelling of Faust, a strange and powerful story that absorbed all the philosophical questions of his time as well as the revolutions and empires that came and went. It is his greatest work, but as Wilson explores, it is also something much more – it is the foundational myth of how we came to be modern.

A.N. Wilson is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and holds a prominent position in the world of literature and journalism. He is a prolific and award-winning biographer and celebrated novelist, having written biographies of Tolstoy, C. S. Lewis, Milton, Hilarire Belloc and Goethe. In 2007, Wilson's novel, Winnie and Wolf, was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and in 2020 The Mystery of Charles Dickens was published to great critical acclaim. He lives in North London.

This online event is free and open to all, and a recording will be made available to HA members in December.

You can book this event via Zoom here