Yann Martel is a novelist for readers who enjoy a story that leaves them questioning how it was told. Some meet him through a book, others through film or theatre. A festival conversation gives you time to follow that interest in imagination, belief and the relationship between a tale and its listener.
Martel is a Canadian writer whose bibliography includes novels, a short-story collection and a collection of letters about reading. The letters encouraged a prime minister to read, bringing the writer’s interest in books beyond fiction itself. His short stories are collected in The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios.
His best-known novel won the 2002 Man Booker Prize and has reached audiences through Ang Lee’s film and a stage production that travelled through the West End, Broadway and touring. A reader who first encountered that story on a screen or in a theatre can still arrive with a strong connection to the writing.
Son of Nobody, published in the UK by Canongate in 2026, approaches the Trojan War through an alternative epic and a scholar’s encounter with it. Martel identifies Homer’s Iliad as its inspiration. It gives a reader interested in old stories a new point of entry, with the ancient tale and the act of reading it sharing the novel’s attention.
Where to start with their books
Life of Pi
A cargo ship sinks and a boy finds himself in a Pacific lifeboat with surviving animals, including a Bengal tiger. Begin here if you want to encounter the written story behind the adaptations, following the practical struggle to survive as well as the tale told about it.
The High Mountains of Portugal
Three stories join a search for an artefact, a pathologist’s mystery and a grieving Canadian senator’s move to Portugal with a chimpanzee. Choose it for another of Martel’s unusual journeys through loss, faith and the ways stories can connect lives separated by time.
Beatrice and Virgil
A letter draws Henry into the world of an elderly taxidermist and a tale involving a donkey and a howler monkey. This is the more unsettling starting point, for a reader interested in art, responsibility and the questions a fable can leave behind.
Festival appearances
For tickets, use the host festival’s official box office. Confirm the date, venue and access details before paying.
Oxford’s new-book event took place at the Sheldonian Theatre on 29 March 2026. The conversation centred on the novel’s alternative account of the Trojan War and a scholar’s response to the text.
Where to see them next
No 2027 appearances announced yet. Check the festival guides for programme dates.
Plan your trip
If a screen or stage adaptation brought you to Martel, consider taking the novel on the journey and comparing the opening with what you remember. Leave time after the event to talk with your companion about which parts of a story each of you believed. You can make that discussion the end of the outing without fitting another talk around it.
Do I have to read Life of Pi before seeing Yann Martel?
Use the festival links on Yann Martel’s profile for the event’s own ticket and audience guidance.
Does a festival talk cover the film and stage versions?
Use the festival links on Yann Martel’s profile for the event’s own ticket and audience guidance.
How can I buy a ticket to hear him?
Use the festival links on Yann Martel’s profile for the event’s own ticket and audience guidance.
Which Martel book should I choose next?
The suggestions below offer a survival story, three linked journeys and a more unsettling fable. Choose the kind of reading experience you want now; you do not need to follow a single series to explore these novels.
