Home>The Friendship Tour: Stories Know No Borders

27.11.2019

The Friendship Tour: Stories Know No Borders

“Please, let us in when we ask to come back.” Lee Child’s plea to the students in the audience forced a laugh from his colleagues on stage, Ken Follett, Kate Mosse and Jojo Moyes. On November 25, 2019, the four renowned British authors were at Sciences Po for the conclusion of the Ken Follett Friendship Tour, having been to numerous other European cities with the purpose of spreading the message: “We still love you!” 

This exceptional event made possible by Fnac-Darty and its partners, Robert Laffont Editions, Livre de Poche, Calmann Levy, Milady and Sonatine, was part of the ongoing collaboration between Sciences Po and Fnac on the Chair of Writer-in-Residence/Centre for Writing and Rhetoric. However, the conference was not a purely literary event: Brexit being the main driving force behind Ken Follett’s decision to create the Tour.

The four authors each shared what their initial reactions to the outcome of the fateful referendum had been, and had a common message of regret and embarrassment for the nature of the impending rupture between the European Union and the United Kingdom. They also shared personal anecdotes and insights about their professions as writers; Kate Mosse sharing one that was emblematic of the evening’s discussion: “Stories know no borders.” Watch the interview of the four authors above, or relive the entire conference below.

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