Sabrin Hasbun and Reeta Chakrabarti: Family Stories

In Crossing, Sabrin Hasbun’s family memoir which won the inaugural Footnote x Counterpoints Writing Prize, she describes the Italian term lontananza, signifying longing and indeed long distances. After the loss of her mother, Sabrin tries to renegotiate her mixed identity and understand her mother’s choices which led her from an oppressive childhood in a village in Tuscany to finding love and community activism with Sabrin’s father in Palestine.

Longing and belonging are also key themes of Finding Belle, the debut novel from Reeta Chakrabarti which travels from the beaches of Mombasa to the suburbs of England and then on to the teeming streets of Kolkata. It’s a powerful story of mothers and daughters, betrayal and madness and a child who must forge her own identity.

Join us for a poignant, cross-genre discussion of looking for loved ones and looking for a place in the world.

Event Schedule

6:00pm: Pre-event socialising and networking
A cash bar will be available for refreshments.

6:15pm: Event begins

7:30pm: Event ends

Speakers

Sabrin Hasbun was born in Palestine, spent her childhood in Palestine and Italy, and now lives in the UK. She holds a PHD in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University and lectures in Creative Writing at Cardiff Met University.

Reeta Chakrabarti is a journalist and broadcaster who is a Chief Presenter for BBC News, and has also reported extensively at home and abroad for the BBC. Born in London, she was brought up in Birmingham, lived in Calcutta, India, as a teenager where she attended Calcutta International School and returned to the UK for university. She began working for the BBC in 1992 and has been there in various roles for over 30 years. She has previously been a judge for the 2021 David Cohen Prize for Literature; she was the chair of the 2021 Costa Book of the Year; and in 2023 chair of the BBC National Short Story Award. She lives in London with her husband and has three children.