An Evening with Joanna Cannon & Friends

This very special launch event will be held on the top floor of The News Building in London Bridge. Drink in panoramic views of the London skyline as you relax and hear some of the UK’s best-loved authors in conversation.

Joanna has brought together her favourite authors for a lively discussion around the books that made them. Hear Matt Haig, Lucy Foley, Rachel Joyce and Bobby Palmer discuss their most memorable and influential reads. Expect heartwarming anecdotes and recommendations aplenty!

After a short drinks interval, Joanna will be interviewed by Times Radio broadcaster and host of Off Air podcast Fi Glover about An Unlikely Visitor. A poignant, funny, and incredibly life-affirming novel about life after loss, An Unlikely Visitor has been described as ‘the perfect novel for today’s world’ (Sarah Winman).

Matt Haig writes both fiction and non-fiction. This includes the novels The Humans, How to Stop Time and The Midnight Library, which has been a #1 Sunday Times bestseller and a #1 New York Times bestseller. He has also written several children’s books including A Boy Called Christmas, which became a major feature film. His non-fiction works include Reasons to Stay Alive, which recently celebrated its tenth anniversary, and The Comfort Book. His most recent fiction, The Life Impossible, was a Sunday Times and a New York Times bestseller. His work has been translated into over fifty languages. The Midnight Library: Graphic Novel, illustrated by Fred Fordham, will be published by Canongate on 8th October.

Lucy Foley is a #1 Sunday Times, Irish Times and New York Times bestselling author, whose contemporary M**der mystery thrillers have sold over ten million copies worldwide. She is a Waterstones Thriller of the Month author, a three-time nominee at the British Book Awards, and The Guest List was a Reese’s Book Club pick. As a lifelong Agatha Christie fan, Lucy has also contributed to Marple, a collection of short stories featuring the legendary detective. Lucy Foley’s new thriller – M**der at the Grand Alpine Hotel, the brand new Miss Marple novel – will be released in September.

Rachel Joyce is the author of the Sunday Times and international bestsellers The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Perfect, The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy, Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North, The Music Shop, Miss Benson's Beetle, and a collection of interlinked short stories, A Snow Garden & Other Stories. Rachel’s books have been translated into thirty-seven languages and have sold millions of copies worldwide. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Book Prize and longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. The critically acclaimed film of the novel, for which Rachel also wrote the screenplay, was released in 2023.

Bobby Palmer is an author and journalist. His critically acclaimed debut novel, Isaac and the Egg, was a Waterstones Paperback of the Year in 2022; his second novel Small Hours was published in 2024. Bobby co-hosted the podcast Book Chat with Pandora Sykes and his writing has appeared in GQ, Esquire, Men’s Health, Cosmopolitan and more. His third novel, Main Characters, will publish in July.

Signed copies will be available for sale on the night through Bert’s Books.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 1 London Bridge Street, London, United Kingdom

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