There must be something about us humans that makes us drawn to things that are not quite as they first seem. How else might we explain our penchant for the mysterious, the lure of the unfathomable or our curiosity for the counter-intuitive or just downright odd?
It’s a trait that underpins everything from our enduring love of science fiction or thrillers to the “well I never/blow me down” appeal of a well-judged books of facts or the phenomenon of the TV panel game to end all TV panel games, QI.
As an ex-QI elf (yes, that’s what they really do call the show’s fact-finders), Edward Brooke-Hitching knows a thing or two about the power of the unusual. And he’s harnessed this power into a series of brilliant, best-selling books that explore the curiosities, myths, quests and blunders that underpin the way we look at the world. From The Phantom Atlas through to The Madman’s Gallery and his forthcoming Love: A Curious History, he has a knack for getting to grips with the extraordinary and remarkable in a way that’s guaranteed to delight us.
You can hear from Edward at his Monty Lit Fest session on Saturday 10th June at 2.30pm.
And if that still doesn’t satisfy your appetite for he uncanny, lovers of fiction in Welsh have the opportunity to meet Siân Llywelyn and hear her talk with Mari Lovgreen about her latest novel, Darogan on Sunday 11th June at 12.30pm.
If secret agencies, supernatural events and mystery hunters – the X-Files crossed with Dolgellau – are your thing, you’re in for a treat.
See you there. Or will we?