Pen Pals: Tash Aw & Édouard Louis

From the moment they met at a literary festival, Tash Aw and Édouard Louis’ friendship was intertwined with their creative processes.

Aw, whose novel The South was longlisted for the 2025 Booker Prize, began a daily exchange of ideas with Louis, the depth of their understanding making him a natural choice to translate the French author’s gut-wrenchingly personal books – most recently, Collapse.

They come together to discuss their friendship as a ‘laboratory for creation’.

Chaired by Daniel Hahn.