Lost Artistry, Lost Humanity and a Collision of Cultures in 18th Century India

Dr Claire Scobie is an award-winning author who has worked in the UK, India and now Sydney. Educated at Christ’s College, Cambridge, Claire completed a Doctorate of Creative Arts at Western Sydney University in 2013. Her books include the travel memoir classic, Last Seen in Lhasa, and her recently published novel, The Pagoda Tree (Unbound).

Mick Brown writes across a wide variety of cultural subjects for the Telegraph magazine. He is the author of six books, including The Spiritual Tourist: A Personal Odyssey through the Outer Reaches of Belief, which explores contemporary spiritual quests around the globe, particularly in India. His most recent work is Tearing Down The Wall of Sound: The Rise And Fall of Phil Spector.

In this discussion, Claire and Mick will cover some of the broader themes of 18th century India and the contradictory and sometimes elusive figure of the temple dancer or devadasi. They will tease out the shared history between Britain and India and explore why there was still a possibility of exchange between the two cultures before the future of the Raj was yet written.

‘Scrupulously imagined and vividly detailed, Claire Scobie brilliantly evokes India on the eve of British rule.’ Manju Kapur, Custody