From memoir to fiction: in conversation with Ali Millar
Join us at Night Owl Books on Thursday, 27th June at 8.30 pm, when we'll be in conversation with Ali Millar, author of the highly acclaimed memoir The Last Days, and of the gripping novel Anna Ava Ada.
We'll be discussing both books, as well as Ali Millar's experience of writing and publishing both memoir and fiction.
Purchase a copy of either The Last Days or Ava Anna Ada via this page for free entrance to the event (admits one) - while spaces last!
Please select 'local pick up' at the checkout if you would like to collect your copy/copies from Night Owl Books, or at the event.
About Ali Millar:
Ali Millar is an author and journalist. Born in Edinburgh and raised in the Scottish Borders, she now lives in London.
Her debut, THE LAST DAYS: a memoir of faith, desire and freedom was published by Penguin Random House in 2022. Heralded as 'a dam burst of a book marking the arrival of a major literary talent', THE LAST DAYS was a Guardian Book of the Year, a Bookseller Editor's Choice and a Scotsman One to Watch. Released to widespread critical acclaim across five continents, THE LAST DAYS tells the story of life inside the Jehovah's Witnesses, and has been called a 'real life handmaid's tale'.
In January 2024 she released her debut novel, AVA ANNA ADA (White Rabbit Books/W&N).
As journalist, her work has appeared in The Guardian, The Stylist, The Sunday Times and Caught by the River. She has been profiled by The Sunday Times, The Sunday Post and appeared on the BBC World Service, NBC National Australia, Times Radio, and Talk TV. She will appear on a Channel 4 documentary with Rebekah Vardy, recently recorded in the winter of '22. She has read and appeared at festivals and events including Edinburgh International Book Festival, Wigtown Book Festival and Camp Good Life, as well as across digital platforms on podcast, blogs and Youtube channels.
Additionally, as broadcast journalist she has interviewed numerous authors including Rachel Cusk, Amy Liptrot, Etgar Keret and Marina Warner. As event chair she has interviewed at Edinburgh International Book Festival, Camp Good Life and The Social.
A strong proponent for freedom of speech, she is part of Scottish PEN's women's committee.
She has an MA with distinction in Creative Writing from Edinburgh Napier University where she graduated with the class medal. She has a background in textiles and design, with a BSc (Hons) 1st class in Textiles. Textiles and art continue to be preoccupations of hers and are often explored on her Substack.
A Guardian Book of the Year
A Bookseller Editor's Choice
Born into the Jehovah's Witnesses in a town in the Scottish Borders, her childhood revolves around regular meetings in the Kingdom Hall, where she is haunted by vivid images of the Second Coming, her mind populated by the bodies that will litter the earth upon Jehovah's return. In this frightening, cloistered world Ali grows older. As she does, she starts to question the ways of the Witnesses, and their control over the most intimate aspects of her life.
As she marries and has a daughter within the religion, she finds herself pulled deeper and deeper into its dark undertow, her mind tormented by one question: is it possible to escape the life you are born into? A tale of love and darkness, of faith and absolution, The Last Days is an unforgettable memoir of one woman's courageous journey to freedom.
But someone is watching her. The girl. Ava.
Outside, the brutal summer blisters on. Inside, over the course of one claustrophobic week, Anna and Ava become caught up in their own world. Become swallowed by each-otherness.
But what does Ava really want? As faces fray and secrets splinter, the past casts the present anew, and Anna and Ava are forced to reckon with who they truly are. Because who we are, Ava Anna Ada warns us, is not always the same as what we are to each other. Braiding climate chaos, lust, poetry and violence, Ali Millar's debut novel is a contemporary fable against images and their enduring hold on us.
Attuned to the knotty texture of reality, Ava Anna Ada asks us to confront the way things look in the dark - and what happens when what is buried comes into the light.
Event times:
Event: 20:30 - 21:30, followed by signing.
Doors: 20:15
Venue information:
Night Owl Books, 1 Bridge Street, East Linton, EH40 3AG.
FAQs
- Will I be sent an e-ticket before the event?
Please note that we will have a guest list on the door on the night of the event, and you will not be sent an e-ticket for it - simply let us know your name/the name of the person who booked your ticket when you arrive, and we'll check you in!
A note on Covid precautions: if you feel unwell on the day, please err on the side of caution, and please take a lateral flow test before attending, if you can.