HAY FESTIVAL, HAY-ON-WYE, JUNE 2nd 2013
Memories of revolution
Chris Keil and Julian Preece in conversation with New Welsh Review editor Gwen Davies.
As markets collapse and bankers gorge themselves on bonuses, Chris Keil and Julian Preece look back to the 1970s, when revolution seemed about to change the world.
Chris Keil’s latest novel Flirting at the Funeral is set against a background of global crisis and the power of the super rich; it’s a narrative haunted by memories of revolution and terror – Portugal in 1974, Germany in 1977 – and by the ghostly presence of the Red Army Faction and the ‘Captains of April.’ Professor Preece’s non-fiction title Baader Meinhof and the novel is a study of the bombings and kidnappings of the ‘German Autumn’ as reflected in literature, and explores forty years of myths and conspiracy theories around the German terrorist movement. In times of chaos and financial corruption, the powerful resonances between these two books should make for a fascinating and provocative discussion.