Guernsey Literary Festival: Lionel Shriver

In my second visit to a Guernsey Literary Festival event this week, I had the pleasure of watching Lionel Shriver in conversation with Libby Purves. Unfortunately for Ms Purves, I was less than blown away by her performance, although I regard Ms Shriver as something of an intellectual juggernaut so perhaps it was also going to be difficult to come off well by comparison.

Nevertheless, Shriver came across as articulate, funny, wise and wholly unafraid to have her voice heard, arguably her most admirable quality. Known for expressing her views in spite of the prospect of meaningful backlash, she did the same here, even giving her stance as a Leave supporter (to the rapturous and spectacularly childish applause of approximately three members of the audience). Listening to her talk candidly about her process, her characters, her views on topics such as cultural appropriation, and her feelings towards her body of work was an enlightening and inspiring experience and one which I would highly recommend.