Presented by Durham Book Festival
Lucy Rose, author of The Lamb, and Sarah Maria Griffin, author of Strange is the Light, will discuss how they use video games as tools to inspire their writing. They’ll explore how video games can take us on a journey to epic fantasy realms or alternate versions of places we know, often using their carefully crafted narratives and seemingly endless story arcs to address real-world issues.
Lucy will also talk about her specially commissioned short story, The Rat King, written to inspire local game designers in our Festival Game Jam, which will premiere at Durham Book Festival, and be available to read on Durham Book Festival’s website.
Lucy Rose is a Cumbrian author and filmmaker living in Newcastle. Lucy’s debut novel The Lamb was a Sunday Times bestseller. She won a Nota Bene Award and a 2026 Somerset Maugham Prize for The Lamb, and was named on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list.
Sarah Maria Griffin is the author of three novels, including Other Words for Smoke, which won an Irish Book Award in 2019, and Eat the Ones You Love, which was a Sunday Times Irish Book of the Year in 2025. She writes about video games for The Guardian and lives in Dublin.
Chaired by Sarah France, New Writing North
Get 50% off your ticket to this event if you also attend the Festival Game Jam. Add tickets for both events to your basket and the discount will be automatically added.
Tickets
£10 (£9 concession), £5 Livestream
