Will Self in Conversation

5 June 2013 The acclaimed novelist Will Self visited Birkbeck to give a reading from his recent novel Umbrella and take part in a Q&A hosted by Dr Dennis Duncan, Director of the MA in Modern & Contemporary Literature. Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2012, Umbrella marks a turning point in Self's career and arguably the most critically-acclaimed of Self's novels to date. Its challenging stream of consciousness narrative style examines the twentieth century's most pressing questions concerning the traumatic shocks both of modernity and its culmination in the industrialised warfare of WWI, developments in psychiatric care, changing time consciousness, and the polyphonic rhythms of London.    A sizeable audience also participated in a discussion that explored the legacies of modernism and the state of the novel in Britain today. The conversation ranged from questions concerning Self's research into encephalitis lethargica, his views of contemporary experience in a digital environment, the dominance of literary realism in the 21st century, and possibilities for challenging "mainstream" modes of narration through experiments in narrative voice and non-linear structure. As part of Birkbeck's Summer Programme of events, talks and workshops for current MA students, the event offered an invaluable opportunity for students to question Self about a text that is currently studied on the MA Contemporary Literature & Culture.    Tweet   Image by Aaronth under a CC BY-ND...