About the event

Have you ever dreamed about leaving the real world for good and immersing yourself in a different reality – or even a game? In the books of Nicholas Bowling (Alpha Omega) and Christopher Brookmyre (Bedlam), Gabriel Bäcker and Ross Baker are trapped in the surreal worlds of video games. And when the real, the unreal and the surreal are indistinguishable, the truth is difficult to recognise and a way out seems impossible.

Chaired by Jacky Collins

About the speakers

Nick Bowling is an author, musician, stand-up comic and Latin teacher from London. He graduated from Oxford University in 2007 with a BA in Classics and English, and again in 2010 with a Masters in Greek and Latin Language and Literature, before moving into teaching. His critically acclaimed debut Witchborn was published in 2017 by Chicken House, and was followed in 2019 by In the Shadows of Heroes, which was shortlisted for the Costa Children’s Book Award. His speculative fiction novel Alpha Omega will be published by Titan in May 2020. Nicholas has also performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and has recorded two albums and two EPs with Me For Queen.

Chris Brookmyre was a journalist before becoming a full-time novelist with the publication of his award-winning debut Quite Ugly One Morning, which established him as one of Britain’s leading crime novelists. His 2016 novel Black Widow won both the McIlvanney Prize and the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year award. Brookmyre’s novels have sold more than two million copies in the UK alone.

Find out more about: Nicolas Bowling and Chris Brookmyre!