GV Art and Mind Symposium 16 | Tuesday 7 May 2013

A Box of Birds by Charles Fernyhough

What can fiction tell us about the mind and brain?
Symposium Tuesday 7 May 2013

Literature provides us with depictions of human consciousness that are unparalleled in their richness. On the day of publication of my new novel, A Box of Birds, I will explore the idea that studying fiction can provide scientifically useful insights into the phenomenology of human experience, and provide a test of whether neuroscientific advances really change humanity’s understanding of itself.

Speaker Charles Fernyhough
Charles Fernyhough is a writer and psychologist. His book about his daughter’s psychological development, The Baby in the Mirror, was translated into seven languages, and his most recent non-fiction book, Pieces of Light, was a book of the year in both New Scientist and the Sunday Times. He is the author of two novels, The Auctioneer and A Box of Birds, and his fiction has twice been selected for the prestigious British Council anthology, New Writing. He has written for numerous publications including the Guardian, Financial Times, Sunday Telegraph, Nature and TIME Ideas. He is a Reader in Psychology at Durham University, where he conducts research into child development, hallucinations and memory.

Copies of ‘A Box of Birds’ will be available for purchase on the night.

The details of the evening are as follows:
Drinks from 7pm, Sit down for dinner 7.30 and presentation by Charles Fernyhough 8.45 followed by discussion.

£20 per person includes dinner & wine. To book a place email Garry Kennard, Director, Art and Mind, garry.kennard@btopenworld.com