For Alberto Manguel, the internationally-acclaimed Argentine-born Canadian writer and bibliophile, the activity of reading, in its broadest sense, defines us as a species. ‘We come into the world intent on finding narrative in everything,’ he writes, ‘landscape, the skies, the faces of others.’ In a talk introduced by the Spanish Ambassador, His Excellency Mr Carles Casajuana, and marking the Spanish presidency of the EU, Manguel explores the crafts of reading and writing, reflects on those ‘numinous memory palaces that we call libraries’, and honours Jorge Luis Borges, to whom he read regularly as a young man.

This event, which is supported by the European Commission, takes place at 1 Belgrave Square, London SW1X 8PH. The talk will begin at 7pm. Please join us, from 6.30pm, for a glass of Spanish cava.