Samantha Harvey with Tim Peake

Without doubt the not-to-be-missed event of this year’s Festival, British astronaut Tim Peake sits down with the Booker Prize winning author of Orbital, Samantha Harvey, to discuss her fictional musings on space and the fragility of human life. 

A team of astronauts in the International Space Station collect meteorological data, conduct scientific experiments and test the limits of the human body. But mostly they observe. And whilst far from earth, they have never felt more part - or protective - of it. They begin to ask, what is life without earth? What is earth without humanity?  

‘In this slender novel, Harvey seems to have encompassed all of humanity… It is an extraordinary achievement.’ The Observer

This event is generously supported by Scott & Caroline Greenhalgh.