Tagged: Human Rights
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Speaking Freely: Dr Purna Sen, on Violence Against Women
Purna Sen has thirty years of experience working to promote social justice. She's currently head of the Programme for African Leadership at the London School of Economics, where her work includes a focus on violence against women. We caught up with her to talk about the prevalent problem of violence against women, and the importance of an open dialogue in tackling the problem.
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Free Thinking from the Irrawaddy Literature Festival
At the beginning of February, the Irrawaddy Literature Festival drew readers and writers from around the world to the city of Yangon in Myanmar. In a country which has lived under the rule of a repressive military junta for more than half a century, it was a cultural and political landmark that allowed writers to gather, speak and exchange ideas freely for the first time in recent history. Cila Warnke visited the festival to see how a country crippled by censorship is starting to find its voice.
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A New Chapter for Burma’s Literary Life
In a country no stranger to censorship and incarcerating writers, the Irrawaddy Literary Festival comes at a crucial moment in Myanmar's cultural history. Writer and journalist Cila Warncke investigates what a celebration of writers and writing means for a country in transition.
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Our Reading of Solidarity for Pussy Riot
On Wednesday 12 December the staff of the Free Word Centre gathered in the main hall to join a worldwide reading of solidarity for Pussy Riot, instigated by the International Festival of Literature in Berlin. Alongside cultural institutions around the world, the free expression organisations at Free Word came together to protest the trial and imprisonment of members of the Russian…
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Video: Lydia Cacho on Immigration, Slavery and Freedom
Writer and activist accepted the PEN Pinter Prize at Free Word in August, and launched her book Slavery Inc, which explores the international sex-trade. In these videos from the event, she discusses her book, immigration, the international slave trade, and accepts her award from English PEN.
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Tunisia’s Graphic Revolution
The graphic novel Sidi Bouzid Kids attempts to articulate the realities and concerns of the Tunisian youth who mobilised in last year’s revolution. But while the graphic novel is warmly received in Tunisia, the real town of Sidi Bouzid is tense with post-revolutionary skirmishes. Tunisia’s recent history is continually re-drawing itself in art – from graphic novels to rap – but the lines of free speech are also being re-drawn, and not always in artists’ favour.
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Moments from Paralympic History
The International Stoke Mandeville Games, the forerunner to the Paralympics, were first organised in 1948 as an activity for World War II veterans with spinal cord injuries recovering at Stoke Mandeville Hospital. In 1992, 45 minutes of television programming covered the entire Paralympic Games. Today, Channel 4 are dedicating 150 hours to it. The Paralympics have often lived in the shadow of their Olympic brother, but their history has been just as turbulent, compelling and politically charged - if not more so. To celebrate the arrival of the Paralympic torch in East London, our sports historian Martin Polley will be bringing you a collection of moments from the Games' history for each day the flame shines over Stratford.
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Preview: In the Shadow of the Games
Empty seats at the Olympics matter because they give the impression that the Olympic Movement and LOCOG don’t care about ordinary people. Whether the fault lies with sponsors not distributing their tickets, the Olympic family for not taking up their allocated seats or possibly more likely, a straight cock-up with selling tickets, we’re left with the…
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Recommended Reads: 5 Graphic Novels Exploring Human Rights
Comics don't all have to be about heroes and villains. But if you want to explore a new kind of writing, where do you start? To help us sink our teeth into the more serious side of the medium, we asked graphic novellist Hannah Berry to recommend 5 great comics that address human rights issues.
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Zarganar at Free Word
The Free Word Centre comes together to celebrate the freedom of a political prisoner many of us in the building have campaigned after for years.
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“The black stage” Fagin, Jewishness and the Prison Cell
In his third and final film about Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist, Professor Robert L. Patten explores the role of Fagin and the Jewish experience in Victorian England.
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“Stop Thief!” Oliver & Fagin’s Gang
Professor Robert L. Patten continues his exploration of the social and political resonances of Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist in the second of our three exlusive short films.
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“Twist, I named him”
In the first of three exclusive short films, Professor Robert L. Patten introduces our new exhibition Conversations with a Twist and explores the political and social resonances of Dickens' seminal novel.
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Conversations with a Twist
Here at Free Word we are celebrating Charles Dickens' 200th birthday with a special exhibition in conjunction with the Charles Dickens Museum, Conversations with a Twist: Dickens, Oliver and Social Justice. This exhibition explores the relationship of Oliver Twist to wider social issues, including poverty, child labour, class and education. Much of the novel takes place in Clerkenwell, a stone'…
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China Inside Out: An Alternative Cultural Exchange
Who controls the flow of culture around the world? Who chooses what gets translated from one language to another – and why? Jonathan Heawood of English PEN introduces China Inside Out, a day of cultural exchange which offers alternative perspectives on China and Chinese writing.
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Unlocked: The Crisis in Prisons
Mel Jones reports from English PEN's 'Unlocked' debate, where Mark Haddon, Alex Wheatle and others explored the crisis in reading, writing and literacy in Britain's prisons.
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US piracy law could threaten human rights
As debates continue around the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), Cynthia M Wong reports for Index On Censorship that US policy makers must look more closely at whether the bill truly supports free expression.
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International media mission condemns Hungary
An International Partnership Mission of freedom of expression and media development groups, including Article 19 and Index on Censorship, concluded that Hungary’s new model of media regulation is undermining freedom of expression.
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Day of the Dead - London Vigil
Mexico has one of the leading numbers of journalist and media casualties in the world. The drug war has silenced those who threaten its cause, and innocent people are losing their lives. On Tuesday 2 November, PEN International along with English PEN and students from Kings College PEN group held a vigil for the persecuted, murdered and missing journalists of Mexico.
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Protection of journalists highlighted before Inter-American Commission
On October 27th 2011, ARTICLE 19's Mexico and Central America made a submission before the Inter American Commission of Human Rights 143 session to highlight the ongoing cycle of violence and the government’s failure to protect journalists and media workers. The following press release describes the outline of that submission.
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Past Event: Banaz: A Love Story
Part of the Freedom on Film series.
Wed 6 Mar 2013
6:30pmFree Word Lecture Theatre
Free Word invites you to a screening of Banaz: A Love Story, in collaboration with ARTICLE 19 and Fuuse. The screening is part of our ‘Freedom on Film’ series, exploring freedom of expression through film. Banaz: A Love Story is a documentary that examines honour killings in the UK through the story of Banaz Mahmod,…
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Past Event: Mark Haddon presents Prison Writing 2013
Wed 27 Feb 6:30pm (for a 7:00pm start)
Free Word Lecture Theatre
English PEN is launching its Prison Writing Pamphlet 2013 with Mark Haddon, author of The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night Time. This is the second year of the Readers & Writers prison writing competition, the topics were set and judged by PEN member and writer Mark Haddon. We had over 400 entries of…
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Past Event: Kazakh Night: Celebrating Free Speech from a Country Without It
ARTICLE 19 brings together Kazakh and British activists, politicians and journalists to discuss the crackdown in Kazakhstan.
Mon 25 Feb, 6:30pm - 9:00pm (7:00pm start)
Free Word Lecture Theatre
On 16 December 2012, the 20th anniversary of Kazakhstan’s independence from the Soviet Union, a protest by oil workers in Zhanaozen ended in violence between police and protesters, in which at least 14 people were killed. The Kazakh authorities have used the context of this violence to silence its critics. In addition to allegations of torture and unfair trials against protesters,…
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Past Event: Maziar Bahari: Forced Confessions
Film Screening and Q&A
Wed 13 Feb, 6:45pm - 9:00pm (Screening 7:15pm - 8:15pm)
Free Word Lecture Theatre
Join journalist and film maker Maziar Bahari at a screening of his film Forced Confessions followed by Q+A with Jon Snow. Few things are more humiliating than having to reel off someone else's lies. In 2009, millions of Iranians watched on TV as filmmaker Maziar Bahari, was forced to make a false confession. He had supposedly been collaborating…
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Past Event: Amazing Azerbaijan!
A creative documentary about the glittery façade of Eurovision 2012.
Wed 30 Jan 2013
6:59pmFree Word Lecture Theatre
Amazing Azerbaijan! pulls back the glittery facade that this oil-rich nation presented to the world when hosting Eurovision 2012, telling personal stories of human rights abuses to which Europe's leaders have turned a blind eye. A sugary duet with the unintentionally ironic title "Running Scared" secured the contest for the former Soviet Republic on the Easternmost tip of Europe. The…
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Past Event: Writing the Truth: Britain’s Secret History of Torture
Wed 16 Jan 2013
6:30pmFree 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…
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Past Event: Voices of Freedom
Cultural Resistance in China Today
12 Dec 6:30pm (7:00pm start) until 10:00pm
Free Word Lecture Theatre
To highlight cultural resistance in China and to coincide with Human Rights Day (on 10 December), Chinese, Uyghur & Tibetan Solidarity UK present an evening of imprisoned voices and banned works from Tibet, East Turkestan and China. There will be performances of songs and poems, video clips and readings from those who the Chinese government have attempted to silence. Followed…
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Past Event: An International Reading of Solidarity for Pussy Riot
Wed 12 Dec 2012
3:00pmFree Word Hall
Join us for an afternoon of poetry, protest, tea and cake this Wednesday as Free Word and the Free Word free expression Founder Members Article 19, Index on Censorship and English PEN join cultural institutions around the world in a reading of solidarity for Pussy Riot, instigated by the Internationales Literatur Festival of Berlin. We’ll be welcoming…
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Past Event: Catechism: Poems for Pussy Riot Live
Wed 21 Nov - 6:30pm (doors) for a 7pm start
Free Word Lecture Theatre
On 21 February, members of Russian punk collective Pussy Riot staged a protest in Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, denouncing the Russian Orthodox Church’s support for President Vladimir Putin. Three members of the collective, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alyokhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich, were arrested and held in custody until August when they were each sentenced to two…
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Past Event: Slavery Inc
Uncovering the Untold Story of International Sex Trafficking
Wed 29 Aug 2012
6:30pmFree Word Lecture Theatre
Illegal, inhuman and impervious to recession, there is one trade that continues to thrive, just out of sight. The trade of international sex-trafficking criss-crosses the entire globe, a sinister network made up of criminal masterminds, local handlers, blind politicians, eager consumers and countless women and children. PEN International Writer of Courage and UNESCO World Press Freedom hero Lydia Cacho, and…
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Past Event: Culture Under Fire: Creative Resistance in Syria
Fri 16 Mar 2012
5:00pmFree Word Lecture Theatre
Reel Festivals returns for its fifth year with Reel Syria 2012, in association with Mosaic Initiative for Syria, supporting Syrian artists and showcasing Syrian culture to a UK audience. At a time when Syria is engulfed in violent conflict, the festival will present a nuanced portrait of the country and its people. On the anniversary of the uprising, Mosaic Initiative for…
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Past Event: Unlocked – The Crisis in Prisons
What can writers do?
Wed 8 Feb 2012
6:30pmFree Word Lecture Theatre
There’s a literacy crisis in the UK prison system and we need to do something about it. English PEN will be asking what role literature can play in our criminal justice system: What’s being done? What more can we do? Focusing on practical steps forward with a panel of leading experts and writers, this special English…