The Conversation 2025 to host expert-lead literary talks every Tuesday evening

The Conversation is a series of weekly literary talks, addressing key societal themes such as global conflict, the climate crisis, inequality, power, and other history-enlightened reflections. It is running every Tuesdays at 6:30PM, until the 6th of May at St Martin-in-the-Fields Church.

Every topic will be covered by experts in their fields, including talks with bestselling writers including Hanif Kureishi, Ahdaf Soueif, Paul Lynch and Robert Macfarlane; acclaimed historians Tom Holland, Bettany Hughes, Marion Turner and Helen Castor; theatre director Nicholas Hytner, war correspondents Lindsey Hilsum, Fergal Keane and much more.

Each evening will feature a different guest, and be centered around a unique subject. The first half of the event is an hour-long interview, after which the host and programmer of The Conversation, Peter Florence, and the guest, will be directly engaging with the audience for another hour, enabling them to deepen the conversation.

The Conversation 2025 explores the biggest challenges of our time, accompanied by leading thinkers, while giving the audience the opportunity to actively participate and exchange with the guests in every talk.

The next three talks are:

28th January: Award winning nature and landscape writer, Robert Macfarlane will discuss the plight of Britain’s rivers, the power of protest and advocacy and his new book Is a River Alive.

4th February: Astronomer Maggie Aderin-Pocock demystifies stunning images from the universe, explaining what we’re learning from the world’s most powerful space telescope and her latest book Webb’s Universe: The Space Telescope Images That Reveal Our Cosmic History.

11th February: The Oscar winning playwright, screenwriter and author of The Buddha of Suburbia, Hanif Kureishi discusses his memoir Shattered his wildly inspiring memoir of illness and defiance

You can book in-person tickets for £15, or an online ticket for £10. See the full event listings visit https://www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org/the-conversation/

Location: St Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 4JJ.

Dates: 14th January – 6th May

Time: Tuesdays from 6.30pm – 8.30pm

Written by Alexandra Herlaut Reinhardt

Photography courtesy of The Conversation 2025