For the first time, JBW will be commissioning new work; storytelling with a common theme. We have entitled this evening ‘True Tales?’ and have selected some of our favourite writers to present works of either truth or fiction.
The tales are themed ‘Imprints of Home and Exile’. This evening the writers will be offering suggestions of what remains when we leave home; which aspects of home leave us and which do we carry with us? Then it will be the turn of the audience to vote on whether the story they just heard was true or a tall tale….
Jon Canter is the author of two comic novels, Seeds of Greatness and A Short Gentleman and currently writing the third. He also writes stand-up comedy with Lenny Henry and regular comment pieces for The Guardian.
Esther David comes from the Bene Israel Jewish community in India. She grew up in Ahmedabad, where her father, a hunter-turned-veterinarian, founded a zoo. She trained as a sculptor and lectures on Art History. She is the author of The Walled City, the Book of Esther and the Book of Rachel.
Rachel Holmes was born in South Africa, had an academic career in the UK and was part of the launch team of Amazon.co.uk. She is now director of literature at the South Bank Centre. She is the the author of Scanty Particulars: The Life of Dr James Barry and The Hottentot Venus, a biography of Saartjie Baartman.
Ed Kritzler is a historian and former reporter for USA Today. He lives in Jamaica and is the author of Jewish Pirates of the Caribbeans.
Irma Kurtz was born in New Jersey, grew up in New York, moved to Paris and finally came to London. In 1970, she joined Cosmopolitan magazine as its first Agony Aunt. Now in her seventies, she has written About Time in which she explores many aspects, both positive and negative, of growing old.
Known for her quirky, poetic stories, where there are no conventional, ‘happy ever-after’s’, Lana Citron is the author of five novels, Sucker, Spilt Milk, Transit, The Honey Trap and The Brodsky Touch. Other works include; short stories and poetry - anthologised and broadcast on BBC Radio 4, the award-winning short film, ‘I was the Cigarette Girl,’ and the radio play, ‘Love Saboteur’. A trained actress she has appeared on TV, theatre and film. She has also performed as a stand-up comic and appeared at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She is currently working on her sixth novel.
