How does a nation’s language shape its identity? Hannah Kent on her year in Iceland

Welcome to Intelligence Squared, where great minds meet. I'm producer Mia Sorenti. On today's episode, writer Hannah Kent joins us to discuss her new memoir, Always Home, Always Homesick, a reflection on the profound bond she formed with Iceland as a young traveller, a bond that would inspire her best-selling novel, Burial Rights, and help define her voice as a writer. In conversation with Danielle Sands, she explores Iceland's language, culture and traditions and how learning to speak a new language can deepen a writer's sense of self.

Let's join our host, Danielle Sands now with more. Welcome to Intelligence Squared. I'm Danielle Sands, senior lecturer in comparative literature at Royal Holloway University of London, and our guest today is the Australian novelist Hannah Kent. Hannah first travelled to Iceland at the age of seventeen. She'd never seen snow before and didn't speak a word of Icelandic.

Living in a remote part of Iceland during the dark winter, she fell in love with the country, its landscape, and its people. The experience inspired her best selling novel, Burial Rights, a haunting work of historical fiction set in 19th century Iceland. She is joining us today to talk about a new memoir. Always home, always homesick, which is her love letter to Iceland and the time that she spent there. Welcome to Intelligence Square, Tana.

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