Join us to mark the 30th anniversary of Sebastian Faulks' classic WWI novel, Birdsong.

Join us in a candlelit Cathedral to celebrate the 30th anniversary of one of the world’s most classic novels, Birdsong written by bestselling novelist and literary hero, Sebastian Faulks.

Throughout the evening, Sebastian Faulks will be discussing why he thinks Birdsong is such an enduring success, how the memory of war has influenced his novels and the challenges of opting for the solitary life of the novelist.

About Birdsong

Birdsong is a mesmerising story of love and war spanning three generations between WW1 and present day.

1910. Amiens, Northern France. Stephen Wraysford, a young Englishman, arrives in the French city to stay with the Azaire family. He falls in love with unhappily married Isabelle and the two enter a tempestuous love affair. But, with the world on the brink of war, the relationship falters. With his love for Isabelle forever engraved on his heart, Stephen volunteers to fight on the Western Front and enters the unimaginable dark world beneath the trenches of No Man's Land.

Faulks’s fourth novel and the second in his French trilogy has become a classic of modern English literature. It is taught at school and university on both English and History syllabuses; it has sold more than two million copies in the United Kingdom and three million worldwide; it has been used at Sandhurst to instruct young officers in the realities of warfare; in polls it is regularly voted one of the nation’s favourite books.

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Sebastian Faulks has written nineteen books, of which A Week in December and The Fatal Englishman were number one in the Sunday Times bestseller lists. He is best known for Birdsong, part of his French trilogy, and Human Traces, the first in an ongoing Austrian trilogy. Before becoming a full-time writer, he worked as a journalist on national papers. He has also written screenplays and has appeared in small roles on stage

This event will be in-person only and won't be streamed or recorded. Doors will open at 6.45pm and copies of Sebastian Faulks books will be available to purchase on the evening.