Irene Solà in Conversation with Sophie Mackintosh

Nestled among rugged mountains, in a remote part of Catalonia frequented by wolf hunters, bandits, deserters, ghosts, beasts and demons, sits the old farmhouse called Mas Clavell. Inside, an impossibly old woman lies on her deathbed while family and caretakers drift in and out. All the women who have ever lived and died in that house are waiting for her to join them. I Gave You Eyes and You Looked Toward Darkness is a formally daring and entrancing novel in which Irene Solà explores the dualities of light and darkness, life and death, oblivion and memory.

Irene Solà is a writer and visual artist. She is the author of the poetry collection Beast and the novels The Dams and When I Sing, Mountains Dance. Solà’s work has received several awards, including Maria Angeles Anglada Prize and the European Union Prize for Literature.

Sophie Mackintosh is an author of three critically-acclaimed novels, The Water Cure, Blue Ticket, and Cursed Bread. Her writing has been nominated for prizes including the Booker Prize and the Women’s Prize for Fiction. In 2020, she was picked as 'a face set to define the decade ahead' by Vogue UK, and in 2023 was named as one of Granta’s once-in-a-decade Best of Young British Novelists. Mackintosh has been a Writer in Residence at the Paris Writer’s Residency, the Prague UNESCO City of Literature Residency, and Gladstone’s Library.

The event will be followed by an audience Q&A and book signing. Your ticket includes a complimentary glass of wine.

Tickets: £10 General Admission / £8 Foyalty / £20 Book and Ticket, incl. a copy of I Gave You Eyes and You Looked Toward Darkness (RRP: £14.99)

Venue: The Auditorium (Level 6) at Foyles, 107 Charing Cross Road*

*Please note that the Auditorium at Foyles is fully accessible from the Ground floor lifts.

Image Credit: Solà by Ignasi Roviró Mackintosh by Alice Zoo