Damian Barr is an award-winning writer, journalist and host of his own infamous Literary Salon at the Savoy. His memoir Maggie & Me, published by Bloomsbury, was BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week and Sunday Times Memoir of the Year.  His debut novel, You Will Be Safe Here, will be published by Bloomsbury in 2018. Damian covers politics and culture in his monthly Big Issue column and is a Radio 4 regular.

Twenty teams drawn from the world of media, publishing and law will compete to be crowned the 2017 Quiz winners. Previous winners include Penguin Random House, The Telegraph, The Times, Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins.

English PEN’s gala fundraising event raises vital funds to support writers at risk around the world, to defend the freedom to write and read in this country, to bring the inspiration of great literature and creative writing skills to socially excluded communities and to help promote outstanding literature in translation to as wide an audience as possible.