From the international bestselling and award-winning Kate Atkinson comes Transcription, a new novel that explores the repercussions of one young woman’s espionage work during World War II. She will speak with UBC’s Chair of the Creative Writing Program, Alix Ohlin, about her latest work, her inspiration and her career to date.

The winner of the Whitbread (now Costa) Book of the Year Prize for her first novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum, British author Kate Atkinson is a master of many genres. Her detective novels became a BBC television series, Case Histories, starring Jason Isaacs. Heralded as an exceptional writer for her emotional delicacy, Atkinson’s work evokes reflection, passion and intrigue.

Her latest novel, Transcription, tells the story of Juliet Armstrong, who is recruited as a young woman by an obscure wartime department of the secret service. In the aftermath of war she joins the BBC, where her life begins to unravel, and she finally has to come to terms with the consequences of her idealism. This is a bravura novel of extraordinary power and substance that questions what it means to follow orders.

​This event is generously supported by Tourism Vancouver.