A unique opportunity to see publishing phenomenon Liz Calder in conversation with leading writer and cultural critic Professor Marina Warner is taking place at the University of Essex at 6pm on Wednesday 1 May.

Calder was the founding director of Bloomsbury  who uncovered many leading writers and helped launch J K Rowling’s Harry Potter series.

She is now director of Full Circle Editions and will be in conversation with Professor Warner from the University’s Department of Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies at a special event hosted by Art Exchange.

In a career spanning four decades, Liz Calder has a gift for identifying outstanding writers. She made her reputation at Jonathan Cape where she launched the careers of Salman Rushdie and Julian Barnes among others, before going onto co-found Bloomsbury where she was responsible for the fiction list, which included Margaret Atwood's Blind Assassin and The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje. It was with Bloomsbury that Liz also launched the phenomenally successful Harry Potter series by J K Rowling.

Professor Marina Warner has won three major awards this year alone for her book Stranger Magic: Charmed States and the Arabian Nights. This year also sees the launch of her The Symbol Gives Rise to Thought: Writings on Art  and the republication of her influential books Alone of All Her Sex: Cult of the Virgin Mary and Joan of Arc: The Image of Female Heroism.

Entry is free.