Jeff Young 'Wild Twin' with Caspar Henderson

Wild Twin

'To become invisible is what I want most, the dream of disappearing.'
One morning in the 1970s Jeff Young slips out of his parents home with the intention of hitch-hiking to Paris in search of a version of himself he calls the 'wild twin,' a shadow boy, a feral drifter. There he falls headlong into a fever dream of dive hotels, rough sleeping, getting lost, squats, violence, poverty, thieving, illness and madness. Journeying across Europe, from cathedrals to doss houses, from Red Light district to deportation and breakdown, finally Young returns to present-day Liverpool, caring for his dying father in the house he ran away from fifty years earlier, remembering the past with a man who can no longer remember.

Jeff Young

Jeff Young is a writer for radio, stage, television and film. He is one of BBC Radio Drama's most acclaimed dramatists, having written over 20 broadcast plays. For television, he has written for Casualty, Doctors, Eastenders and Holby City. He has worked on many arts projects in Liverpool, including with Bill Drummond. His work for the stage includes Bright Phoenix, the 50th anniversary production at Liverpool Everyman Theatre, and a stage version of The Who's 1973 album Quadrophenia. He is also a senior lecturer in Creative Writing at the Screen School of Liverpool John Moores University.

Caspar Henderson

Caspar Henderson is a British writer and journalist. He has written on the subjects of energy, science, environment and human rights. His Book of Barely Imagined Beings: A 21st Century Bestiary received the Roger Deakin Award from the Society of Authors in 2009. His latest book is A Book of Noises. The book was a finalist for the 2024 Los Angeles Times Book Prize in the science and technology category.

He is researching The Green Ways: Walks Into A Wild Future, scheduled for publication in 2026.

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