Davina Quinlivan - Possessions
A Memoir of Transformation in an Era of Precarity
WithDavina Quinlivan
In conversation withDevika Ponnambalam
At: Online-only
On:8th April 2026, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
*Update: This event is now an online-only event, there will be no event in the bookshop. All tickets are for the livestream only.*
We'll be joined by Davina Quinlivan for an online-only event to celebrate her latest book, Possessions: A Memoir of Transformation in an Era of Precarity. It's an incendiary, exquisitely written, sharply funny account of one woman’s journey out of the collapsing systems of academia. Quinlivan will be in conversation with fellow writer Devika Ponnambalam.
This event will take place via Crowdcast livestream, with Davina Quinlivan and Devika Ponnambalam joining us remotely.
Please note that Possessions will be published earlier in the year on 29th January, therefore books for the Book & Livestream option will be posted out to you or made available to collect from the bookshop between then and the event on 8th April. You can choose whether you would prefer collection or postage in the checkout options.
About Possessions:
After two decades of academic research and undergraduate teaching Davina Quinlivan, and the world of university education, were approaching crisis; teaching online, ticking boxes for other people’s diversity criteria, stuck, like so many others, in a cycle of fixed term contracts. Yet as a child of Anglo-Burmese parents, growing up in West London, academia had promised a way out. Something better.
This is her powerful, compelling story of fragmenting and rebuilding from the inside out, one that is filled with the voices of both Burma and Southall.
Haunted by the ghosts of colonialism, Davina Quinlivan beautifully lays bare our blind spots as we grapple with decolonisation and the hypocrisies within our institutions of education.
Please note: Tickets for our events are non-refundable. Professional photography and videography may take place during this event. Thank you for your understanding.
Participants:
Davina Quinlivan Author
Davina Quinlivan is a research fellow at the Department of English and Creative Writing at the University of Exeter. For several years she has run F: For Flanerie, a series of writing and film seminars at The Freud Museum. She is also Artistic Lead with Paper Nations, an award-winning creative writing incubator funded by Arts Council England. Her writing has appeared widely, and she is the author of Shalimar (Little Toller).
Devika Ponnambalam Chair
Devika Ponnambalam's debut novel, 'I Am Not Your Eve' (Bluemoose Books) was shortlisted for three awards, including the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction in 2023. She contributed to the collection, 'In the good seats: Essays on film' (PVA) in 2024. Her second novel, 'A Dream to the Sleeping Soul' (Bluemoose Books) will be published in Spring 2027.