**Please note the venue for this event has changed. The event will now take place at Smock Alley Theatre.**

An ILFDublin exclusive, as two leading lights of contemporary fiction come together to discuss the challenges of literature, writing, and a world that feels more elusive than ever: Robert Calasso, the Italian writer and publisher described in The Paris Review as ‘a literary institution of one’, and Ireland’s own John Banville, the Man Booker prize-winning author called ‘Ireland’s wordsmith’ by The Washington Post. A strikingly original and provocative vision of our times, Robert Calasso’s latest book The Unnamable Present - the ninth part of a work in progress - is a meditation on the obscure and ubiquitous process of transformation happening in societies today. John Banville’s recent Ancient Light is the story of a life rendered brilliantly vivid: the obsession and selfishness of young love and the terrifying shock of grief.

The event will be chaired by journalist and critic Helen Meany.

Presented with the support of the Istituto Italiano di Cultura and the Embassy of Italy in Ireland