S. F. Williamson in Conversation with Alwyn Hamilton - Birmingham

Join us for a brilliant evening with S. F. Williamson, discussing her unmissable YA debut A Language of Dragons. An epic, sweeping fantasy with an incredible slow-burn romance, an unputdownable sotry filled with twists and turnes, betrayals, and secret identities. S. F. Williamson will be in conversation with Alwyn Hamilton, author of the upcoming novel The Notorious Virtues.

About the Book

London, 1923. Dragons soar through the skies and protests erupt on the streets, but Vivien Featherswallow isn’t worried. She’s going to follow the rules, get an internship studying dragon languages, and make sure her little sister never has to risk growing up Third Class. By midnight, Viv has started a civil war.With her parents arrested and her sister missing, all the safety Viv has worked for is collapsing around her. So when a lifeline is offered in the form of a mysterious ‘job’, she grabs it. Arriving at Bletchley Park, Viv discovers that she has been recruited as a codebreaker helping the war effort – if she succeeds, she and her family can all go home again. If she doesn’t, they’ll all die.At first Viv believes that her challenge, of discovering the secrets of a hidden dragon language, is doable. But the more she learns, the more she realises that the bubble she’s grown up in isn’t as safe as she thought, and eventually Viv must decide: What war is she really fighting?

About the Author

S. F. Williamson is fascinated by the way languages are born and was surrounded by them long before she undertook a degree in French and Italian. She has always known that languages are creatures that live and move and breathe, and as a child she learned that speaking them meantaccessing ideas, traditions and people she would only otherwise know from a distance. A graduate of Bath Spa University, Steph now lives in France with her husband and two cats.

About the Chair

Alwyn Hamilton was born in Toronto and spent her childhood bouncing between Europe and Canada until her parents settled in France. She grew up in a small town there, before leaving for Cambridge University to study History of Art at King’s College, and then to London where she became indentured to an auction house. Her New York Times-bestselling debut, the YA fantasy Rebel of the Sands, was published by Viking in the US and Faber in the UK, and in 14 other territories. The trilogy continues in Traitor to the Throne and Hero at the Fall. Alwyn was named the 2016 Goodreads Choice Award winner for Best Debut Author. Her fourth book The Notorious Virtues releases in March 2025. You can find her @alwynhamilton on Instagram and Tiktok.