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Unlocking Robert Harris’ Novel, Conclave Part Two
Christopher Collingwood

  • Saturday 17 June 2017, 10.00AM to 4pm
  • Tickets: £10 per day, £15 if both days booked (Concessions £7 per day, £10 if both days booked)
    Book tickets
  • The Old Palace, Dean’s Park (view map)
  • No wheelchair access

Event details

The international best-selling author, Robert Harris, is well-known for tackling big subjects in an imaginative, compelling and gripping way. Beginning with his first novel, Fatherland, which imagines a world in which Germany won World War II, Harris has written variously about ancient Rome (Pompeii, Imperium, Lustrum, Dictator), Russia (Archangel), France (An Officer and a Spy), as well as a novel loosely based on Tony Blair (The Ghost).

In his latest novel, he turns his attentions to Italy and the machinations of the Vatican following the death of a fictional Pope. Set over the three days between the death of a Pope and the election of his successor, it raises issues about human ambition, politics, power, God, faith, terrorism, religious extremism, gender, sexuality, and much more.

Join Christopher Collingwood, Canon Chancellor of York Minster to explore such issues, not only through talks and discussion, but also by engaging with objects from the Minster’s priceless historic Collection - a rare opportunity to see some things that are not readily accessible to the general public for much of the time. Prior reading of the novel is not essential, although revealing the various twists and turns of the plot will be an inevitable and unavoidable part of the event.

About the speaker

The Revd Canon Dr Christopher Collingwood is Canon Chancellor of York Minster, where he has overall responsibility for Public Engagement, which includes learning, theological reflection, outreach, inter-faith matters, the Minster’s collections, and programming. He has published in the areas of theology, philosophy and spirituality and has written several articles for the Church Times.

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