In Adam Bede, George Eliot wrote: ‘No story is the same to us after a lapse of time; or rather we who read it are no longer the same interpreters.’ Two hundred years after her birth, a panel of writers discuss Eliot’s literary legacy and her continued influence on contemporary writers, asking: what’s so great about George Eliot? Deborah Moggach has written 19 novels, including The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Tulip Fever, both of which were made into films. Her screenplays include the BAFTA-nominated Pride and Prejudice, and her latest novel, The Carer, is published in 2019. Sathnam Sanghera is an award winning journalist and has been shortlisted for the Costa Book Awards twice, for his memoir The Boy With The Topknot and his novel Marriage Material. Juliet Stevenson CBE is an actress who received the 1992 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress. Her film credits include Truly Madly Deeply, Mona Lisa Smile, Being Julia and Bend It Like Beckham. Their discussion is chaired by Eliot biographer, Kathryn Hughes. Her works include George Eliot: The Last Victorian and Victorians Undone: Tales of the Flesh in the Age of Decorum.

This event was in partnership with the George Eliot Fellowship.