Launch of The Memorisers by Rosemary Jenkinson.

about

With interview by Alexander Poots.

Out to Lunch is delighted to present the Belfast launch of Rosemary Jenkinson’s debut dystopian novel ‘The Memorisers’ published by Arlen House.

The Memorisers is a blistering portrayal of World War III and a satire on the West’s current assault on free speech. Jo is a journalist reporting from the front line of a war-torn country. One day, she wakes up in hospital after being caught up in a drone attack. The problem is she can’t remember the story she was covering…

Rosemary Jenkinson is an award-winning short story author and playwright with a swathe of literary successes to her credit. She received a Major Artist Award from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and was artist-in-residence at the Lyric Theatre Belfast and Leuven College for Irish Studies. She is currently Royal Literary Fund Fellow at Queen’s University.

As research for The Memorisers, Rosemary travelled five times to war-torn Ukraine. Spending time in the frontline city of Kherson and experiencing Zaporizhzhia under drone attack has provided Rosemary with the impetus to imagine the Russo-Ukrainian war spreading West.

A vivid, urgent and compelling story about the tenacity of memory. In the apocalyptic and bookless world conjured up by Rosemary Jenkinson, words have power – and remembering forbidden words becomes an act of resistance. – Martina Devlin