Event overview
Novelists Sarah Leipciger and Winnie Li in conversation
Kathleen and Yannick have not spoken for nineteen years, not since what happened with their daughter. Now, there’s unexpected news from the other side of the country, and the call for a road trip they can only make together. As they rattle for hundreds of miles in a pick-up, through forests, over mountains and into service stations, a heartbreaking history reveals itself: of fierce love, complicated ex-wives and headstrong children, and of a unique bond that never really went away. As they drive, argue, gossip and reminisce, an unexpected future begins to emerge. Gripping, emotional, witty: Sarah Leipciger's Moon Road captures the wonder and grief of watching our children grow up; of recovering from long buried pain, and rediscovering those closest to us when we think we know all there is to know.
Sarah Leipciger is a Canadian novelist living and teaching in the UK. Her most recent novel, Moon Road, was published in 2024 both in the UK and North America, and was flagged in the Sunday Times as: “If Elizabeth Strout drove a pick-up truck.” Her second novel, Coming Up for Air, longlisted for the Historical Writer’s Association prize, will be hitting the stage as an opera with the Leipzig Opera House in March 2026. Sarah taught Creative Writing in prisons for many years, and has been working as a tutor at City Lit since 2019. She is an Associate Lecturer in the MA Creative Writing at Birkbeck University and Guest Tutor at Goldsmiths University.
Thirty years ago, Alex, Bonnie and Kevin went on a road trip with their parents. But something cut their journey short, and they never made it there. Something that shifted the dynamic of their family forever. Today, Alex, Bonnie and Kevin might be siblings, but they’ve grown apart, each holding heavy secrets close to their chests. When their mother’s health takes a turn for the worse, she asks them to relive that old road trip to see her, and they’re forced into close quarters once more. As the siblings retrace old steps on an epic journey along Route 66, they are led to finally share the parts of their lives they’ve tried to keep hidden. With powerful and beautiful writing Winnie M Li weaves an emotive and eye-opening exploration of family, race, growing up, and what it means to be American.
Winnie M Li is an activist, educator, and author of three novels. Winnie’s debut novel Dark Chapter won The Guardian’s Not The Booker Prize, was nominated for an Edgar Award, and translated into ten languages. Her follow-up Complicit was a New York Times Editors’ Choice and shortlisted for the Royal Society of Literature’s Encore Award. A Harvard graduate and survivor of sexual violence, Winnie’s writing often explores gender and racial inequality, trauma, and displacement, and she has received an honorary doctorate from the National University of Ireland in recognition of her work. She is an Assistant Professor in Creative Writing at the University of Birmingham.
Dates & times
| Date | Time | Add to calendar |
|---|---|---|
| 29 Oct 2025 | 5:00pm - 6:00pm |
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