The much-loved Backlisted podcast returns to Foyles Charing Cross Road for the second instalment in a very special live series of the show. John and Andy are joined this June by guest speakers Dr Laura Varnam and Dr Martin Shaw for a journey through the Middle English classic Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

Dr Laura Varnam is the Lecturer in Old and Middle English at University College, Oxford. Laura's first book, The Church as Sacred Space in Middle English Literature and Culture, was published in 2018. She is the co-founder of the Margery Kempe Society which supports and promotes the study and teaching of The Book of Margery Kempe. Laura is also an expert on the life and works of Daphne du Maurier, the subject of her forthcoming book.

Dr Martin Shaw is a writer, storyteller and mythologist. Award-winning author of seventeen books, his most recent, Bardskull, was a Guardian Book of the Day. He is a wilderness rites of passage guide and spent four years living in a tent. Shaw founded the Oral Tradition and Living Myth courses at Stanford University. He is widely published: Orion, The Sun, Mississippi Review, Poetry International and many others.

The live event will begin at 6.30pm with a bonus episode of Locklisted, hosted by the show’s producer Nicky Birch. Locklisted is the podcast available exclusively to supporters of the show’s Patreon – in which Nicky, John and Andy share what they have been reading, watching and listening to lately. Expect some audience participation!

Following a short interval, Andy, John and their guests will start their discussion of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Both of these events will be recorded for future broadcast. Doors will open at 6pm and the recording will begin promptly at 6:30pm.

Tickets: £20 General Admission Venue: The Auditorium (Level 6) at Foyles, 107 Charing Cross Road Please note that the Auditorium at Foyles is fully accessible from the Ground floor lifts.