Polly Barton & Aea Varfis-van Warmelo: Lies, Crushes, and Karaoke

Obsession and karaoke.

Lies and self-sabotage.

In What Am I, A Deer? and Attention-Seeking Behaviour, Polly Barton and Aea Varfis-van Warmelo bring fierce formal invention to two bitingly funny, mercilessly perceptive novels about trying to translate yourself into someone more palatable.

Barton, the fearlessly original essayist and translator of Asako Yuzuki's bestselling Butter, joins Varfis-van Warmelo - a sharp, edgy new voice in fiction - to unpick confession, compulsion, authenticity, and whether we can ever truly escape ourselves.

Chaired by Irenosen Okojie.