Yann Martel talks to Ben Lawrence
Booker-winning author Yann Martel launches publication of his new novel at the festival, Son of Nobody, which connects the life of a foot soldier in the Trojan War with a scholar struggling to make sense of life in modern-day Oxford.
Classicist Harlow Donne discovers a lost account of the Trojan War in the depths of the Bodleian Library. He names the epic poem The Psoad after its protagonist, Greek commoner Psoas of Midea known to all as ‘son of nobody’. The text sends echoes of Ancient Greece into the present day, and a personal message to Harlow’s beloved daughter Helen appears. The novel explores themes of homesickness, regret, ambition, love and grief across the ages.
Martel is author of the international bestseller Life of Pi, winner of the Booker Prize. The book was turned into a film that gained four Oscars. He is also author of Self, Beatrice & Virgil and The High Mountains of Portugal. Martel also ran a guerilla book club with Stephen Harper, sending the prime minister of Canada a book every two weeks for four years. Here he talks to Ben Lawrence, arts editor at The Telegraph.