Lisa Owens in conversation with Claire Powell

About this event

We’re thrilled to welcome Lisa Owens to speak about Natural Disaster , an astute, wincingly relatable (and hilarious) account of motherhood — and an odyssean return from maternity leave. Think Mrs Dalloway meets Motherland in the frenetic style of The Bear , set over the course of one ordinary (disastrous) day. ‘ I absolutely loved it… Funny, dark, absurd, pin-sharp, insightful, propulsive, unputdownable. ’ – Nina Stibbe, author of Love, Nina and One Day I Shall Astonish the World ‘ Utterly exhilarating — every page blazes with truth, hilarity, perception and love. Natural Disaster is destined to become a classic . ’ – Jessica Stanley, author of Consider Yourself Kissed One perfect day. A million catastrophes. For weeks, she has been saying it will be a special day. One last, perfect day with her children before she returns to work after maternity leave. What’s the worst that can happen? Unfolding across twenty-four hours, Natural Disaster is a propulsive, darkly funny and sharply observed novel about the absurd, frustrating, hilarious, precarious, bittersweet, sometimes astonishing challenge – literal, existential – of being a woman, a mother, a wife, a person for one single, entire day. ‘ Generous, funny, heart-breaking and clever – a parenting caper with profound emotional clarity. I loved it. ’ – Lizzy Stewart, author of The Wreck and Alison Lisa Owens is a novelist and screenwriter. Her debut novel Not Working was a BBC Radio 4 Book at Bedtime, and published to wide critical acclaim. Her short fiction has appeared The Stinging Fly , and her first screenplay Days of the Bagnold Summer was nominated for a BIFA (Best Debut Screenwriter). She’ll be joined by Claire Powell , author of the novels At the Table and All In , which was named one of the best books of summer 2026 by The Times and S unday Times , and a best beach read by British Vogue . Her short stories have been broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and in 2017 she won the Harper’s Bazaar short story contest. Ticket price includes a glass of wine or a soft drink.