Sam Leith & Lucy Mangan | Growing Up with Books
Sun 27 Apr 2025 | 12:00pm - 1:00pm



Join Sam Leith (author of The Haunted Wood: A History of Childhood Reading) and Lucy Mangan (author of Bookish) for an insightful discussion on the power of childhood reading and its lasting impact on our lives. Both writers explore how stories written for children offer a window into our deepest hopes, fears, and dreams, shaping who we are and staying with us long after we grow up.
Lucy Mangan takes us on a journey from her childhood love of books to her adult relationship with literature, examining how the stories we read at pivotal moments in life help us navigate the complex emotions of growing up. In Bookish, she reflects on the books that accompanied her through key life stages: falling in love, facing grief, becoming a mother, and learning to let go of the joy of re-reading in favour of collecting new books.
Meanwhile, Sam Leith offers a fascinating exploration of the classic stories that have shaped generations, from Aesop’s Fables to modern authors like Malorie Blackman. The Haunted Wood uncovers the magic and timelessness of children’s literature, showing how these stories remain a cherished part of our past, constantly reminding us of who we were and who we might become.
This conversation will reveal how the books we loved as children continue to offer us wisdom, solace, and a sense of belonging throughout our lives. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from two of Britain’s leading literary voices as they delve into the lasting power of the stories we read as children.
In conversation with Alex Clark
Venue: Old Divinity School
Duration: 1 hour
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Author Biography
Sam Leith After he graduated from Magdalen College, Oxford, Leith worked at the revived satirical magazine Punch, before moving to the Daily Mail and The Daily Telegraph, where he served as literary editor until 2008. He now writes for several publications, including the Financial Times, Prospect, The Spectator, The Wall Street Journal Europe and The Guardian. He had a regular column in the Monday London Evening Standard and appears as a panellist on BBC Two’s The Review Show. Leith’s first three non-fiction books are Dead Pets, Sod’s Law and You Talkin’ to Me? His first novel, The Coincidence Engine, was published in 2011. Leith became literary editor of The Spectator in September 2014. In November 2016, he was named the winner of the Columnist of the Year award at The Editorial Intelligence Comment Awards
Lucy Mangan is a journalist and columnist. She was educated in Catford and Cambridge; she studied English at the latter and then spent two years training as a solicitor, but left as soon as she qualified and went to work much more happily in a bookshop instead. She got a work experience placement at the Guardian in 2003 and hung around until they gave her a job. Lucy is now TV critic at the Guardian, and a columnist for The i newspaper. She has written for most of the major women’s magazines, including Grazia, Cosmopolitan, and Stylist. She was named Columnist of the Year at the PPA Awards in 2013.
Chair Biography
Alex Clark is a broadcaster and journalist, who writes for many publications including the Guardian, the Observer, and the Times Literary Supplement. She was the co-host on the Graham Norton Book Club for Audible and hosts the TLS podcast. She is a professional chairperson and appears all over the UK at Cheltenham, Hay and the Southbank Centre. Alex is a festival honorary patron and now lives in Ireland. Sam and Alex worked together at The Telegraph.