Dejan Tiago-Stankovic in conversation with Tony White

"A literary superstar in Belgrade, and wildly admired in his home of Portugal – the charismatic author Dejan Tiago-Stankovic is making a special appearance at Second Home Holland Park to discuss Estoril, his compelling spy story that's part historical investigation, part delightful comedy.

From riveting stories on exile to the latest gossip from the Lisbon literary scene, you’ll hear about about translating Jose Aramago and the tale of how Ian Fleming met the Serbian double agent who became the model for James Bond! Get ready for an entertaining and thought-provoking evening with a writer who everyone will soon be talking about.

Born in Yugoslavia in 1965, Dejan Tiago-Stankovic is an author and translator. He graduated in architecture in Belgrade before moving to London. Since 1996 he has lived in Lisbon, translating between Serbo-Croatian and Portuguese, giving Serbia the works of José Saramago and Portugal some of the biggest names in Yugoslav and Serbian literature, including Ivo Andrić. His first book, a collection of short stories, made him an instant literary star in Serbia.

Dejan will be in conversation with the Tony White – novelist and chair of the board of directors of Resonance 104.4fm, London’s award-winning arts radio station.

Tony White’s latest novel is the critically acclaimed The Fountain in the Forest, just published by Faber and Faber. He is the author of five previous novels including Foxy-T and Shackleton's Man Goes South, and the non-fiction work Another Fool in the Balkans. White was creative entrepreneur in residence in the Department of French at Kings College London, and writer in residence at the Science Museum, and the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies.

The lively conversation will be chaired by Lucy Popescu – a writer, editor and critic with a background in human rights.

Lucy has worked with the English Centre of PEN, the international association of writers, for over 20 years and was Director of its Writers in Prison Committee from 1991 to 2006. Most recently, she compiled and edited A Country of Refuge, an anthology of writing on asylum seekers by some of Britain and Ireland’s finest writers, published by Unbound in 2016.

Tickets are free for members and £3 for non-members.

All proceeds from our cultural programme at Holland Park will be donated to The Rugby Portobello Trust who support programmes set up in response to the fire at Grenfell Tower.