Creative and free expression: the transforming power of words

At Free Word, we know that words matter. Speaking out for what people believe makes us feel human. Having the freedom to read and write what we like gives our lives meaning. We need words not just to live but to flourish.

That is why Free Word works to promote, protect and democratise the power of the written and spoken word, nationally and internationally.

Free Word is a place where media meets literature which brings people together to work collaboratively. People who are involved in literature, literacy and free expression are brought together with our unique programmes, events and attractive facilities, which include a lecture theatre, various meeting rooms, atrium and a café.

The idea

The idea for Free Word emerged in 2004, when literature and free expression organisations met to discuss ways of working together. Eight founder organisations came together with project director Ursula Owen and project managers Virginia Barry and Penny Mayes to work together over several years. In 2007 Fritt Ord, a Norwegian foundation was persuaded by the Free Word vision and purchased the premises in Farringdon Road for Free Word. The Free Word Centre, funded by the Arts Council, England, opened in June 2009, to house the nine resident organisations who are here today.

Free Word is many things: a venue, a meeting place, an office space, a thinking space, a place of debate and risk taking, a window to the world, a robust voice for the word. At Free Word you will hear known and unknown voices, the expected and the unexpected, and will be encouraged to engage with debate and controversy. And for the first time literature, literacy and free expression organisations will be working under one roof.

Founder organisations: Apples and Snakes, Article 19, Booktrust, English PEN, Index on Censorship, The Arvon Foundation, The Literary Consultancy, The Reading Agency.