Ian Thomson

Ian Thomson (1961) is an English writer, translator and journalist. His first major work was the 1992 book Bonjour Blanc: A Journey Through Haiti, an odyssey that combines history and adventure stories. About ten years later, Thomson returned to the subject matter of West Indies, publishing the book The Dead Yard: Tales of Modern Jamaica (2009) that covers all the colours of this controversial island country. However, Thomson’s literary activities go beyond travel and cultural history; in 2002, he published Primo Levi: A Life, which is considered the best biography of the Jewish writer Primo Levi (1919-1987), as is demonstrated by the many awards it garnered. Thomson was one of the last people to interview Levi, and he spent more than 10 years in Italy and elsewhere, collecting materials for the biography. Ian Thomson will talk to historian Marek Tamm.