Author, critic, and ‘national treasure’ (Zadie Smith), Geoff Dyer is one of the funniest, wisest, and most perceptive writers working in English today.

‘Dyer is one of the few writers whose paragraphs I can immediately reread and get more from. The twists, turns, and delights abound’ – Steve Martin

A louche slacker and a restless wanderer, an Englishman most at home abroad, a comic genius worthy of comparison with Wodehouse and Amis, and a whip smart critic of art and culture: Geoff Dyer is a literary colossus, a wildly original voice whose novels, journalism, and non-fiction circulate around his favourite themes – sex, death, drugs, spirituality, travel, and boredom – while also being utterly different to one another.

Now he returns to How To Academy to tell the story of his childhood and coming of age in 60s and 70s Britain: a country shaped by the aftermath of the Second World War but accelerating towards change.

He was born in Cheltenham in the late fifties, the only child of a dinner lady and a planning engineer. Raised in a working-class area, Geoff and his mates found much joy recreating battles with their beloved Tommy guns, kicking a beachball around until its untimely death, and collecting anything and everything they could find; football cards, conkers and Action Man figures. When Geoff passes his 11-plus exams he gets in to a Cheltenham Grammar School, a school which drastically changes the trajectory of his life.

Don’t miss this chance to travel back in time with one of the wittiest and most delightful flaneurs this country has ever produced.

Tickets to this event are at a £15 discount for members to How To +, and members can also watch the livestream for free.