We are very pleased to announce Sam Byers will be joining Juliet Jacques at this Housmans online event to discuss Sam’s latest novel, Come join Our Disease (published March 18, Faber).
This darkly comic story follows Maya, a homeless radical who’s given an opportunity to re-enter society through raising a tech-company’s philanthropic profile. Marred by the oppressive standards of image and ‘perfection’, Maya -through obscene images and a revolution of sickness-  aims to liberate herself and others from society’s grip.  It’s a tale of resistance, rebellion and questions what it means to protest against the norm.
Even more relevant to the past year in particular, Come Join Our Disease crucially covers a humane view on loneliness and isolation, the forces of hostility between people and how sickness can be used as a vehicle to examine these and speak to rebellion.
Speakers
Sam Byers‘ writing has appeared in Granta, the New York Times and the Times Literary Supplement. His debut novel Idiopathy was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Prize and the Desmond Elliott Prize and was the winner of a Betty Trask Award. His second novel, Perfidious Albion was longlisted for the RSL Ondaatje Prize and the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction, and shortlisted for the Encore Prize.
Juliet Jacques is a writer and filmmaker based in London. She has published two books, most recently Trans: A Memoir (Verso, 2015) – her short story collection Variations will be out on Influx Press in June 2021. Her essays, criticism and journalism have appeared in many publications, from The London Review of Books to Tribune, and her short films have screened in galleries and festivals worldwide. She hosts Suite (212) on Resonance 104.4fm – a radio programme that looks at the arts in their social, cultural, political and historical contexts. She teaches at the Royal College of Art, City Lit and elsewhere.

HOW TO ACCESS THIS ONLINE EVENT

An invitation to this online event will be emailed to you on the day of the event. We will use the email address used to register for this event. Confirmation emails and invitation links sometimes end up in spam folders, so please check there before emailing the shop. Thank you.

TICKET INFORMATION

There are three available tickets for this event: if you’d like a copy of the book then choose the book plus entry ticket. If you’d like to support Housmans then please consider buying a solidarity ticket at £3. There’s also a free access ticket for students and unwaged comrades.

Book plus event entry ticket £16.99