11-12 noon: Dalrymple’s India. An hour of William Dalrymple presenting some highlights of the last five years of his work on the book “The Anarchy: The Fall of the Mughal Empire and the Rise of the East India Company”. He had some fascinating stories and related them to the current death throes of the British empire and the prevalence of global corporations that appear beyond the law (Facebook vs. East India Company, etc.)
12.30-1.30pm: Up Against The Wall: real-life Narcos, Trump’s wall, etc.
Out of the dimly-lit hotel, and back to the sunny fields of the main festival area.
2-3pm: Return to Libya. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author Hisham Matar and the Irish Times’ Paris Correspondent Lara Marlowe talking about the truth behind the disappearance of Matar’s father. Without wishing to appear callous, it didn’t hold my interest well… not due to the subject, but I just didn’t find the interviewing style engaging.
3.30-4.30pm: On a bit of a downer from the last talk, I went to a performance of four 15-minute slots by different people:
- Anne Enright talking about something I’ve long since forgotten.
- Martha West, who gave an excellent performance of some of her poems about growing up – a real highlight.
- Lucy Siegle talking about fast fashion.
- Finally, a dessert course of William Dalrymple talking about the Coptic influence on the Celtic church.
To be honest, I wish I’d had a liquid lunch as it might have taken the edge off the afternoon nicely. As it was, I decided to call it a day on the talks after that.
