Andrew McMillan: Pity

Friday 30 May, 5:30pm, QUAD DE1 3AS

Andrew will be in conversation with Professor Keith McLay, Chair of Derby Book Festival and Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Derby

This event will be filmed and made available as a digital recording after the Festival. Available for purchase here.

The town was once a hub of industry. A place where men toiled underground in darkness, picking and shovelling in the dust and the sleck. It was dangerous and back-breaking work but it meant something. Once, the town provided, it was important; it had purpose. But what is it now?

Award-winning poet Andrew McMillan joins us with his debut novel, Pity, which is set across three generations of a South Yorkshire mining family. It was a Sunday Times Best Book of 2024 and one of the most anticipated books of last year. The story is a lament for a lost way of life as well as a celebration of resilience and the possibility for change, exploring themes of community and masculinity in post industrial northern England.