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Rachel Cusk on Art, Womanhood and Redefining Fiction

Art &
Culture

Why Cusk's work dares us to rethink the limits of character, identity and what it means to be a woman

This event is in partnership with Faber Members. 

The writing of Rachel Cusk poses us constant challenges. Her critically acclaimed Outline trilogy and memoirs – A Life’s Work and Aftermath – dared us to rethink the limits of character, identity and what it means to be a woman. Arguably, no writer working today has pushed the boundaries of contemporary writing and storytelling as far.

In June 2024, she came to Intelligence Squared to discuss her exhilarating new novel Parade. This work promises to once again expand the notion of what fiction can be and do.

Cusk was in conversation with writer Adam Biles.

‘Cusk has glimpsed the central truth of modern life.’ Patricia Lockwood

‘Rachel Cusk has that ability, unique to the great performers in every art form, to hold one rapt from the moment she appears.’  Dwight Garner, New York Times

‘If life were fair, Rachel Cusk would win every prize going.’ Observer

Intelligence Squared Members and Faber Members receive 15% off in-person tickets.

Faber Members is Faber’s community for readers, offering author events, exclusive editions and literary news. You can join for free here.

Speakers for the motion

  • Rachel Cusk

    Multi-award winning author and essayist. Her new novel is Parade.

Chair

  • Adam Biles

    English writer and translator

Speakers are subject to change.

Speakers

Speaker

Rachel Cusk

Multi-award winning author and essayist. Her new novel is Parade.

multi-award winning author and essayist best known for her raw accounts of divorce, motherhood and expectations of being a woman. She is the author of the Outline trilogy, the memoirs A Life’s Work and Aftermath, and several other works of fiction and non-fiction. She is currently a Guggenheim fellow.
Host

Adam Biles

English writer and translator

Adam Biles is an English writer and translator based in Paris. He is Literary Director at Shakespeare and Company, where he hosts their events and podcast. He is the author of the novels Feeding Time (2016) and Beasts of England (2023). A collection of his conversations with writers, The Shakespeare and Company Book of Interviews (2023), is published by Canongate.