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Writing the Truth: Britain’s Secret History of Torture
Presented by English PEN
Wed 16 Jan 2013, 6:30pm
Free Word Lecture Theatre
In the wake of Ian Cobain's recent book Cruel Britannia exposing Britain’s role in the development and use of torture, we bring writers and campaigners together to ask how and to what extent they challenge the official line that the UK does not 'participate in, solicit, encourage or condone’ torture.
This event is free to members of English PEN. If you are a member, email julia@englishpen.org to claim your free place at this talk.
Ian Cobain, an investigative journalist with the Guardian and author of Cruel Britannia: A Secret History of Torture. His inquiries into the UK’s involvement with torture since 9/11 have won the Martha Gellhorn Prize and the Paul Foot Award for investigative journalism, and has been shortlisted for the Orwell Prize. He has also won several Amnesty International Media awards and a Liberty award.
Clare Algar, Executive Director of Human Rights organisation Reprieve. Clare worked as a litigator in a commercial law firm before she moved to Reprieve in 2008.
Anna Perera, author of Guantanamo Boy. Born in London to a Sri Lankan father and Irish, after teaching English in two secondary schools in London Annd ran a unit for teenage boys who were excluded from school and later did an MA in Writing For Children at Winchester University. She lives in London and has a grown-up son. Her recent YA Novel: The Glass Collector tells the story of 15 year old Aaron and his life in the slums of present day Egypt.
South African born Gillian Slovo, who chairs the panel, is President of English PEN and the author of twelve novels and a family memoir, Every Secret Thing, which was an international best seller. Her co-authored play, Guantanamo: Honor Bound to Defend Freedom played worldwide. Her verbatim interviews with women politicians were part of the 2010 Tricycle Theatre’s Women, Power and Politics season.