Event overview
Author Camilla Balshaw in conversation with Miranda Doyle about her new memoir, NAMED
What鈥檚 in a name? Everything we carry, and everything we are.
Our names are a shadow we carry around with us. They are part of who we are. Our names are a marker of our self-identity and our sense of self. Our names have the power to shock. They have the power to heal, and they have the power to trigger conversations around race, class, social mobility and belonging. But what is a name? What do our names tell us about ourselves? And why do they matter?
Named is a fascinating exploration of names, global naming conventions and identity politics woven into a moving, personal narrative about the finding of family and self. At the intersection of memoir and social and cultural history it is a truly fascinating book about the seemingly ordinary and every day.
The author鈥檚 own narrative about her estrangement from her Nigerian father, the grapples with her Jamaican mother and her journey towards identity is woven through the chapters making it an engaging and intimate investigation of what makes us who we are.
鈥楪utsy, entertaining and thought-provoking鈥 marvellous book.鈥� Diana Evans
Camilla Balshaw's debut memoir, Named: A Story Of Names And Reclaiming Who We Are (2025), was recently shortlisted for the East Anglian Book Awards. The award celebrates the very best of writing in the region. Her short stories have been published in BrainChild, an anthology of experimental short fiction. Her essays have featured in the Guardian, Therapy Today and the Observer. Camilla is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Nottingham. She holds an MA in Creative & Life Writing (Goldsmiths) and teaches and mentors writers in a range of community and academic settings. Alongside writing and teaching, Camilla is a yoga teacher and co-director of a studio in Norfolk.
Miranda Doyle is author of A Book of Untruths, Faber & Faber (2017). Today she writes of our science wars, because 'even Victor Orb谩n is too intelligent to gut scientific research' (LRB Werner-M眉ller 4.12.25). Her essays have been included as part of Katy Massey鈥檚 Who Are We Now, True Stories and the Arts Council Funded Even You Song, which was composed by Cheryl Frances-Hoad, with artist Bettina Starke, and poet Lucy Sheerman. Teaching Memoir and Life Writing for the Faber Academy and Arvon she has also delivered storytelling workshops for both Sheffield鈥檚 Off the Shelf and the Lavenham Literary Festivals.
This event is free to attend and open to all.
Dates & times
| Date | Time | Add to calendar |
|---|---|---|
| 28 Jan 2026 | 5:00pm - 6:00pm |
Accessibility
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