Polly Barton in conversation with Ian Maleney on What Am I, a Deer?

We look forward to hosting a conversation between Ian Maleney and Polly Barton, on Barton’s forthcoming debut novel, What Am I, a Deer? Known for her fascinating insights in essay collections such as Porn: An Oral History and Fifty Sounds, Barton turns her pen to fiction this time with a dizzying meditation on obsession. Joined by fellow essayist, Ian Maleney, we’re sure this will be a thought-provoking afternoon.

All are welcome, attendance is free but booking is essential.

PRAISE FOR WHAT AM I, A DEER?

‘Polly Barton’s What Am I, a Deer? is a beautiful piece of writing. An expansive, ambitious, witty stream of consciousness, this is a novel of, and about, translation - not just linguistic translation, but the acts of self-translation we are called upon to perform constantly in the modern world; translating our experience via the disparate languages of personal history, intimacy and class. This a novel that confronts formally the fractals of the self, in a voice that feels confident and yet insecure, cerebral and yet vulnerable. I loved it.’ - Susannah Dickey, author of Common Decency

‘ What Am I, A Deer? is profound, funny and true. With biting precision, Polly Barton marries the mundane with the transcendent, asking whether we can ever truly escape ourselves and the societal structures around us. Her prose is incisive, moving and beautiful - I loved it.’ - Jessica Andrews, author of Milk Teeth

‘ What Am I, A Deer? is a playfully and obsessively observed novel about the pleasures and humiliations wrought from the foolhardy desire for recognition. Barton’s style of address strikes a brilliant balance between a camp-ish hyper-attention to the currents of power driving language and culture, and an earnest attention to the nuances of yearning. Like a Bernhard novel, What Am I is rich with inference, wacky enmity and genuine delight, the most striking of which is Barton’s exquisite command of her sentences.’ - Ellena Savage, author of Blueberries

ABOUT

POLLY BARTON is a writer and Japanese literary translator. Her translations include Butter by Asako Yuzuki, Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa, Where the Wild Ladies Are by Aoko Matsuda, and There’s No Such Thing as an Easy Job by Kikuko Tsumura. She has published two works of non-fiction, Fifty Sounds , for which she won the 2019 Fitzcarraldo Editions Essay Prize, and Porn: An Oral History . What Am I, A Deer? is her debut novel.

IAN MALENEY is a writer and editor living in Dublin. His first book, Minor Monuments , was published by Tramp Press in 2019. He has written for The Observer , The New Statesman , Esquire , and the Irish Times , amongst others. He is the co-editor of fallow , a bi-annual literary magazine, and the producer of several award-winning documentary podcast series, including The Witness: In His Own Words (2021) and The Gambler (2024) .