Author talk: Natalie Haynes

Renowned author, broadcaster and Classicist Natalie Haynes will join Patrick O'Sullivan from the UC Classics Department, to discuss Haynes' recent work on the goddesses and women of Greek myth, and what the ancient Greeks and Romans - in all the richness and complexity of their cultures - can offer us when facing some of the most challenging issues of our time.

Natalie Haynes is a writer and broadcaster and – according to the Washington Post – a rock star mythologist. Her first novel, The Amber Fury, was published to great acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic, as was The Ancient Guide to Modern Life, her previous book. Her second novel, The Children of Jocasta, was published in 2017. Her retelling of the Trojan War, A Thousand Ships, was published in 2019. It was shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction in 2020. It has been translated into multiple languages. Her most recent non-fiction book, Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myth was published in Oct 2020, and reached number 2 in the New York Times Bestseller chart. Her novel about Medusa, Stone Blind, was published in Sep 2022 and Margaret Atwood liked it. So did Neil Gaiman. She has spoken on the modern relevance of the classical world on three continents, from Cambridge to Chicago to Auckland. She writes for the Guardian. She is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4: eight series of her show, Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics, have been broadcast on Radio 4: all series are available now on BBC Sounds. 

Patrick O'Sullivan is an Associate Professor in the Classics Department at the University of Canterbury. A graduate of Melbourne and Cambridge Universities, he has won awards for his teaching and research, and has published widely on ancient Greek literature and cultural history, from epic, lyric and dramatic poetry to Greek art, philosophy, atheism, and beyond. In 2008 he was a translator and actor in a full production of Euripides' Cyclops, produced in Christchurch, which was linked to his (co-authored) book on Greek satyric drama, published in 2013. Current projects include a contracted book entitled The Rhetoric of Greek Art, plus work on Pindar and the Sophists, emotions in Thucydides' history, and Hercules in Roman epic poetry.

This event is run in collaboration with Tūranga Library.