Oliver Basciano discusses his new book Outcast, a revelatory history of leprosy, humanity and the modern world

7:00pm-9:00pm Fort Road Bar

The story of leprosy - one of isolation, exile and resistance - is also the story of humanity. In his first book Outcast, journalist and critic Oliver Basciano travels the world to demystify a condition that has been demonised for thousands of years, discovering the reality behind the medieval myth. He amplifies the voices of those living with leprosy today, people whose lives are linked by perseverance and a refusal to be cast aside, asking: does a society's sense of itself always rely on ostracisation?

Oliver Basciano is a journalist and critic based in São Paulo and London. His writing has appeared in the Guardian, Financial Times, The White Review and Times Literary Supplement; he has contributed to programming on BBC Radio 4 and is Editor-at-Large at ArtReview. He'll be talking about Outcast with Lucy Mercer, a poet and essayist whose latest book Afterlife is forthcoming from Fitzcarraldo Editions.