How do we fall in love in the twenty-first century? How do we stay in love? And how does the messy, joyful, painful reality of modern relationships find its way onto the page? Four of the most exciting voices writing about love and connection today explore these questions - and more - in a warm, wide-ranging and often very funny panel discussion.
 
From Bobby Palmer's Main Characters, to Claire Daverley's Talking at Night, to Nicola Dinan's Bellies, this event celebrates fiction's unmatched ability to make us feel less alone. Chaired by Kate Young, author of Experienced.
 
Format: Panel Discussion & Q&A
Themes: Fiction, Adults, Young People, LGBTQ+, Writing, Literary, Book Club
Access: Hearing Loop
 
Bobby Palmer Books: Main Characters, Small Hours, Isaac and the Egg
Bobby Palmer is an author and journalist. His critically acclaimed debut novel, Isaac and the Egg, was a Waterstones Paperback of the Year in 2022; Main Characters is his third novel. Bobby co-hosted the podcast Book Chat with Pandora Sykes and his writing has appeared in GQ, Esquire, Men’s Health, Cosmopolitan and more. He lives with his family in Sussex.
 
Claire Daverley Books: People in Love, Talking at Night
Claire Daverley was born in 1991 and has been writing stories ever since she was six years old. After graduating with a degree in Fine Art from The University of Oxford, she began a career in publishing, writing about books by day, but penning her own by night. Her debut novel Talking at Night sold in over twenty territories, was selected for the Fearne Cotton Happy Place Book Club, shortlisted for the Debut of the Year at the British Book Awards 2023, long listed for the Waterstones Debut of the Year 2023, shortlisted for the Nota Bene Prize 2024 and named one of Waterstone’s Best Paperbacks of the Year in 2024. Her second novel, People in Love, was released in summer of 2026, and she is currently based in Scotland.
 
Nicola Dinan Books: Disappoint Me, Bellies
Nicola Dinan grew up in Hong Kong and Malaysia and now lives in London. Bellies, her debut, was nominated for six literary prizes and won the Polari First Book Prize. Disappoint Me, her second novel, won the New Adult Book Prize.
 
Kate Young Books: Experienced
Kate Young is a writer and cook whose award-winning Little Library Cookbooks feature food inspired by beloved works of literature. She lives in a converted mill in the English countryside. Her debut novel Experienced, is a queer romcom set in Bristol. Her latest cookbook is Dinner at Mine?