Speaker details

12th Biennial IBA Global Immigration Conference

4 Nov - 6 Nov 2026

Leonardo Royal Hotel London St Paul's, London, England

Speaker information

Ilona Bannister

Biography

Ilona Bannister is the author of Five, a USA Today National Bestseller, one of Amazon's Best Books of the Year So Far 2026, one of the New York Times' Best Audio Books of the Year So Far 2026, and shortlisted for the Speakies British Audio Awards for Best Crime and Thriller Audio Book. Ilona is a dual qualified US lawyer and UK solicitor and practiced immigration law in the UK before she started writing fiction. Ilona's prior work in immigration informs her stories about otherness, belonging, and what it means to be on the outside looking in, particularly in her second novel, Little Prisons. She is also the author of When I Ran Away, longlisted for the First Novel Prize in 2021. She has appeared on BBC Woman's Hour and NPR's Weekend Edition in the US and she has written for The Guardian, Stylist, Marie Claire, and Woman&Home.

Session

In conversation: law and literature

Friday 6 November (1515 - 1645)

Speaker

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