Trailblazing author Isabel Waidner discusses their new novel As If, an existential cat-and-mouse story of grief, loss, ambition and the absurdity of modern lives: two men meet in a flat in London, they are total strangers yet they look remarkably alike. Chaired by Anna Whitwham.

Isabel is the author of five novels, including Sterling Karat Gold, which won the Goldsmiths Prize, and was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction and the Republic of Consciousness Prize; their novel Corey Fah Does Social Mobility was shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award. They teach in the School of the Arts at Queen Mary University of London.

Anna Whitwham is the author of Boxer Handsome (2014) and Soft Tissue Damage (2025). She teaches creative writing at Royal Holloway, University of London.

Photo © Robin Christian