Literature will keep us awake

Adam Thirlwell was born in 1978. After studying Arts at Oxford, he became Assistant Chief-Editor of the literary review, Areté. His first novel, Politics (2003), which led him to feature on the Granta list of the twenty best young British writers and for which he was awarded the Betty Trask in 2003, is filled with references to great authors with which he knows how to play with much finesse and humour, falling between pastiche, parody and tribute. The Times classified Politics as one of the funniest, most eloquent and original books we have seen for years. In his latest novel, Miss Herbert, he continues to live up to this reputation, offering an almost epic trip through literature in tackling the question of translation.