Explore the 2026 Program

Yann Martel: Son of Nobody

A Trojan War epic retold by the common man

Yann Martel (Photo credit Emma Love)
Claire Nichols
Thursday 21 May 2026
12-12.55pm
Event Code: 19
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The story of the Trojan War, like so many wars real and imagined, is a story most often told by the victors, the princes and the powerful.

In this new imagining of the ancient legend, Son of Nobody, Yann Martel tells the familiar tale from an unheard perspective: that of a commoner and goatherd who becomes a soldier, Psoas, the son of nobody. Acclaimed for his Booker Prize–winning Life of Pi, adapted into an Oscar-winning film, Yann’s first novel in a decade sings a universal song about the power of story.

Unravel ancient traditions with Yann, in conversation with ABC Radio National’s Claire Nichols (The Book Show).
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….a powerful meditation on life, death, and the vanity of human wishes, all illustrated by a poem that would do Homer proud.
The Guardian

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Carriageworks, Bay 17
245 Wilson Street, Eveleigh, NSW, 2015