Ellen Wiles's guest appearances

Ellen Wiles

Meet the Writers

GLADcast

Damian Barr

Hillary Clinton

Mark McGurl

Mitch Albom

Amir Khan

Richard Davies

Jess Phillips

Cory Doctorow

Jenny Lewis

Will Harris

Louis de Bernières

Sebastian Faulks

Viv Groskop

Howard Jacobson

Elif Shafak

OwlTail

Ellen Wiles is a novelist, anthropologist and curator, as well as a creative writing lecturer at The University of Exeter. Her 2017 debut novel ‘The Invisible Crowd’ was awarded the Victor Turner Prize for ethnographic writing and was a ‘Guardian’ book of the year. Ellen speaks to Georgina Godwin about her latest book ‘Live Literature’, which takes readers along to different in-person literary events, exploring why they have become so popular and what significance they have to literary culture.

Monocle Reads: Ellen Wiles

It’s 2nd March 1975 and two babies are born: Yonas Kelati in Eritrea, and Jude Munro in Britain. 30 years later, Yonas’s asylum case ends up on Jude’s desk – their lives couldn’t be more different, and yet one hinges on the other. A multi-voice novel, The Invisible Crowd is a compelling exploration of the British asylum system, the lottery of birth and the kindness of strangers. The Chief Executive of the Refugee Council called it ‘a wonderful book’ and it was one of the Guardian Readers’ Books of the Year in 2017. Ellen introduces us to the ragbag of people who encounter Yonas on his journey, and explores how Jude will argue his case…

Ellen Wiles - Hidden Stories of New Arrivals: The Invisible Crowd