Ian McEwan: "What We Can Know"

Schedule

Thu Sep 25 2025 at 07:00 pm to 08:00 pm

UTC-04:00

Location

Enoch Pratt Free Library | Baltimore, MD

Advertisement
Join us for an evening with award-winning novelist Ian McEwan.
About this Event

From the Booker prize–winning, bestselling author of Atonement and Saturday, a genre-bending new novel full of secrets and surprises; an immersive exploration, across time and history, of what can ever be truly known.


2014: At a dinner for close friends and colleagues, renowned poet Francis Blundy honors his wife’s birthday by reading aloud a new poem dedicated to her, ‘A Corona for Vivien’. Much wine is drunk as the guests listen, and a delicious meal consumed. Little does anyone gathered around the candlelit table know that for generations to come people will speculate about the message of this poem, a copy of which has never been found, and which remains an enduring mystery.


2119: Just over one hundred years in the future, much of the western world has been submerged by rising seas following a catastrophic nuclear accident. Those who survive are haunted by the richness of the world that has been lost. In the water-logged south of what used to be England, Thomas Metcalfe, a lonely scholar and researcher, longs for the early twenty-first century as he chases the ghost of one poem, ‘A Corona for Vivian’. How wild and full of risk their lives were, thinks Thomas, as he pores over the archives of that distant era, captivated by the freedoms and possibilities of human life at its zenith. When he stumbles across a clue that may lead to the elusive poem’s discovery, a story is revealed of entangled loves and a brutal crime that destroy his assumptions about people he thought he knew intimately well.


What We Can Know is a masterpiece, a fictional tour de force, a love story about both people and the words they leave behind, a literary detective story which reclaims the present from our sense of looming catastrophe and imagines a future world where all is not quite lost.


Ian McEwan will be joined in conversation by Tom Hall, host of WYPR's Midday.


About the Author:

Ian McEwan is the critically acclaimed author of seventeen novels and two short story collections. His first published work, a collection of short stories, First Love, Last Rites, won the Somerset Maugham Award. His novels include The Child in Time, which won the 1987 Whitbread Novel of the Year Award; The Cement Garden; Enduring Love; Amsterdam, which won the 1998 Booker Prize; Atonement; Saturday; On Chesil Beach; Solar; Sweet Tooth; The Children Act; Nutshell; and Machines Like Me, which was a number-one bestseller. Atonement, Enduring Love, The Children Act and On Chesil Beach have all been adapted for the big screen.


About the Moderator:

Tom Hall is the host of WYPR's Midday (Monday-Friday from noon-1p), the highly rated news and public policy program that features interviews with elected officials, community leaders, as well as thought provoking authors, artists, researchers, journalists, and scholars from around the world.


About the Program:

  • Doors will open to registered attendees at 6 pm.
  • Seating for registered attendees in Central Hall is first come, first served.
  • All registered in-person attendees will receive a free copy of the book.
  • There will not be a book signing following the program.
  • Free parking vouchers are available to program attendees who park at the Franklin Street Garage (15 W. Franklin Street) after 4pm. Ask Pratt event staff for your parking voucher prior to or after the program.
  • All bags, backpacks, briefcases, etc. entering and exiting the library will be subject to inspection by security personnel. No large bags.
Advertisement

Where is it happening?

Enoch Pratt Free Library, 400 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, United States

Event Location & Nearby Stays:

Tickets

USD 0.00

Enoch Pratt Free Library

Host or Publisher Enoch Pratt Free Library

It's more fun with friends. Share with friends

Discover More Events in Baltimore

Baltimore Honky Tonk with the U.S. Navy Band Country Current
Thu, 25 Sep at 06:00 pm Baltimore Honky Tonk with the U.S. Navy Band Country Current

901 W Pratt St, Baltimore, MD, United States, Maryland 21223

MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
HAWK, Future Palace, Half Me in Baltimore
Thu, 25 Sep at 06:00 pm HAWK, Future Palace, Half Me in Baltimore

Metro Baltimore

ENTERTAINMENT CONCERTS
ONE HOPE Weekender
Thu, 25 Sep at 06:00 pm ONE HOPE Weekender

The Garden Church

WORKSHOPS MEETUPS
Invent Animate, Silent Planet, Reflections, fromjoy in Baltimore
Thu, 25 Sep at 06:30 pm Invent Animate, Silent Planet, Reflections, fromjoy in Baltimore

Nevermore Hall

CONCERTS MUSIC
Lakeview
Thu, 25 Sep at 08:00 pm Lakeview

PBR Baltimore

Lakeview in Baltimore
Thu, 25 Sep at 08:00 pm Lakeview in Baltimore

PBR Baltimore

ENTERTAINMENT CONCERTS
Syndicated Scholars Pre-Homecoming Weekend
Fri, 26 Sep at 12:00 am Syndicated Scholars Pre-Homecoming Weekend

Professional Touch, Inc. @ Rosedale Gardens

ENTERTAINMENT PARTIES
Supervision Essentials and Ethics for Social Work Supervisors
Fri, 26 Sep at 08:30 am Supervision Essentials and Ethics for Social Work Supervisors

Country Club of Maryland

WORKSHOPS NONPROFIT
Baltimore Silent Book Club
Thu, 11 Jan at 06:30 pm Baltimore Silent Book Club

Old Major

MEETUPS
Hanging Chapters Silent Book Club
Sat, 08 Feb at 01:00 pm Hanging Chapters Silent Book Club

Equilibrium Total Body Wellness

ART LITERARY-ART
Kickback or Create
Sun, 04 May at 10:00 am Kickback or Create

Skyloft F Rental Studio

ART FINE-ARTS
33 1\/3: The Minutemen's Double Nickels On The Dime
Wed, 13 Aug at 05:30 pm 33 1/3: The Minutemen's Double Nickels On The Dime

Atomic Books

MEETUPS
Black Folx Book Club: "Ready to Score"
Wed, 13 Aug at 07:00 pm Black Folx Book Club: "Ready to Score"

Greedy Reads Remington

SPORTS FOOTBALL
Once Upon A Con: Fall Into Fantasy 2025
Thu, 14 Aug at 01:00 pm Once Upon A Con: Fall Into Fantasy 2025

Gaylord National Harbor

PARTIES CONTESTS
Queer Book Club: "Perfume & Pain" by Anna Dorn
Thu, 14 Aug at 07:00 pm Queer Book Club: "Perfume & Pain" by Anna Dorn

Greedy Reads Fells Point

ART LITERARY-ART
ONCE UPON A CON - FANTASY BOOK FESTIVAL - GAYLORD RESORT - NATIONAL HARBOR
Fri, 15 Aug at 09:00 am ONCE UPON A CON - FANTASY BOOK FESTIVAL - GAYLORD RESORT - NATIONAL HARBOR

Gaylord National Harbor

FESTIVALS ART
Aleya Fraser: CARIBBEAN HERBALISM (with Denzel Mitchell, Jr.)
Fri, 15 Aug at 06:00 pm Aleya Fraser: CARIBBEAN HERBALISM (with Denzel Mitchell, Jr.)

The Ivy Bookshop - Back Patio

ART KIDS
Edgar Allan Poe's Death in Baltimore Bus Tour
Sat, 16 Aug at 02:30 pm Edgar Allan Poe's Death in Baltimore Bus Tour

Baltimore Visitor Center

NONPROFIT
Romance Book Club: "Set Piece" by Lana Schwartz
Sun, 17 Aug at 07:00 pm Romance Book Club: "Set Piece" by Lana Schwartz

Greedy Reads Remington

ART ENTERTAINMENT
Enoch Pratt Library Photo Book meet-up
Thu, 21 Aug at 05:30 pm Enoch Pratt Library Photo Book meet-up

Enoch Pratt Free Library

ART FINE-ARTS

What's Happening Next in Baltimore?

Discover Baltimore Events