Tagged: International
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Reframing Palestine: Why Me?
In the second of a series of essays exploring our current exhibition, 'Reframing Palestine', journalist Victoria Brittain examines how artist Raeda Saadeh uses her body and performance to represent life in her homeland, Palestine.
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Reframing Palestine: An Introduction
In the first of a series of weekly essays exploring our current exhibition, 'Reframing Palestine', curator and publisher Rose Issa gives an overview of the work of the show's creator, Palestinian artist Raeda Saadeh.
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Surrealist Poetry from Ronnie McGrath
Ronnie McGrath joins us on May 9th for the Caribbean Literary Salon, in conversation with Kerry Young and Kevin LeGendre about his time in Jamaica and how it has influenced his writing. In the next few days we'll be publishing an interview we did with Ronnie, but in the meantime, here he is reading a short piece of his…
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Writers’ Room: Kerry Young
This week we speak to novelist Kerry Young about capturing the colour and history of Jamaica in her two novels 'Pao' and 'Gloria'. We find out why she wrote both novels entirely in longhand, and hear why feedback - even from people you don't like - is always important.
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Kerry Young Reads from her New Book, ‘Gloria’
Kerry Young comes to Free Word on the 9th of May for the Caribbean Literary Salon, to talk about Jamaican writing with Kevin LeGendre and Ronnie McGrath. Young was born in Kingston, Jamaica, to a Chinese father and mother of mixed Chinese-African heritage. Here she reads from her new novel, "Gloria", set in Jamaica in 1938, when a violent…
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Monday Reads: “Ali & Ramazan”
Ali & Ramazan tells the true story of two boys who meet in an Istanbul orphanage who become close friends, and then lovers. Though they care deeply for each other, they suffer terrible hardship at both the hands of the orphanage's headmaster and the country's mandatory military service laws. It was written by Turkish author and journalist…
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Writers’ Room: Neel Mukherjee
Comic books, fountain pens, and the importance of a good editor. Novelist Neel Mukherjee talks to us about his craft.
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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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Words in the Mirror
Ollie Brock, one of Free Word's new Translators in Residence, explains why he's chosen to start his residency with a discussion of 'untranslatable' words.
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Samar Yazbek Awarded International PEN Pinter Prize
The PEN Pinter Prize was established in 2009 in memory of the Nobel-winning playwright Harold Pinter. The Prize is awarded annually to a British writer or a writer resident in Britain of outstanding literary merit who, in the words of Harold Pinter’s Nobel speech, casts an ‘unflinching, unswerving’ gaze upon the world, and shows a ‘fierce intellectual determination … to define the real truth of our lives and our societies’. The prize is shared with an international writer of courage selected by English PEN’s Writers at Risk Committee in association with the winner. This half of the prize is awarded to someone who has been persecuted for speaking out about their beliefs. Robert Sharp from English PEN tells us about this year's winner, Samar Yazbek, who was awarded the prize last night.
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Recommended Reads: Writers in Translation
With only 3% of titles read in the UK translated from another language, we're always keen to share brilliant books that come from the wealth of literature beyond our shores. English PEN’s Writers in Translation programme does just this, promoting and supporting all kinds of literature in translation with a new selection of titles each year. But where to start? We asked a handful of English PEN staff to recommend their favourite reads from the list. Here's what they had to say.
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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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Burning Books: Sarajevo’s Library Twenty Years on and the Fragility of Cultural Heritage
Heather McRobie revisits the attack on the Sarajevo library twenty years ago, and considers what cultural and social impact the loss of millions of books has had.
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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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Writers Condemn Arizona’s Censorship Law
Writers at the Edinburgh World Writers Conference earlier this week united in condemnation of the US state of Arizona’s House Bill 2281, which forbids the use of literature “designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group”. Targeted at the state’s Latino community, alongside other controversial anti-migrant powers, this legislation has been used to…
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India’s Face-off With Internet Freedom
Marta Cooper of Index on Censorship investigates the growing problem of online censorship in India, and the impact it might have on the country's future.
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Audio: Food For Thought in Caribbean Storytelling
To mark the launch of the Caribbean Literary Salon, organiser Nii Ayikwei Parkes and host Malika Booker sat down to discuss the many influences on Caribbean writers and their work: chief among which, of course, is food.
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Comics Present: The World
How do you translate a work where the written text is just the beginning? We asked graphic novelist Hannah Berry to explore the world of comics in translation, and to see what the thriving international market has to offer English readers.
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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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Past Event: The Caribbean Literary Salon
Kevin Le Gendre in conversation with Kerry Young and Ronnie McGrath.
Thu 9 May 2013
7:15pmFree Word Lecture Theatre
May is the month in which the English managed to drive the Spanish from Jamaica in 1655, and at the Caribbean Literary Salon, we welcome, this May, two writers from the island, hosted by Kevin Le Gendre (Guyana/Grenada). Returning to read from her new novel, Gloria, is Kerry Young (Jamaica), author of the Costa First Novel and Commonwealth Book…
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Past Event: Britain and Beyond
A festival of events exploring migration and national identity at Literaturhaus Salzburg.
Wed 24 Apr - Fri 26 Apr
Literaturhaus Salzburg
All history is the history of migration. We are all where we are because our ancestors came from somewhere else. And yet nothing is as disturbing to national societies as the movement of people. Immigration has alays been a contentious issue. On the one hand there are those who believe that it leads to a loss in national culture and…
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Past Event: Your Voice; My Voice
An evening with Perihan Magden and Neel Mukherjee.
Mon 15 Apr 2013
6:30pmFree Word Lecture Theatre
How do you give a voice to the unheard? Join writers Perihan Magden (Turkey) and Neel Mukherjee (India/UK) as they discuss their writing and how it relates to the countries and cultures that shaped their lives. While their work describes different realities and explores distinct imaginary worlds, both writers share the urge to give a voice to the…
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Past Event: China and the Environment: The Green Revolution
Thu 11 Apr 2013
6:00pmFree Word Lecture Theatre
Chinadialogue and Zed Books invite you to join the launch event for China and the Environment: The Green Revolution. Edited by Sam Geall, Executive Editor of bilingual environmental website chinadialogue, and with an introduction by Isabel Hilton, China and the Environment provides a unique report on the experiences of citizens responding to environmental problems in contemporary China. Isabel Hilton, Editor…
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Past Event: Whose News is it Anyway?
Translation and Language in the Media
Wed 20 Feb 2013
6:30pmFree Word Lecture Theatre
Who translates the news, and what is the impact of that translation? A group of experts will discuss the use and abuse of translation in reporting daily international news in both mainstream and social media at this special panel debate. Liliane Landor, Controller of Languages, Global News, at the World Service; Biljana Scott, a linguist and expert in diplomatic language…
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Past Event: The Caribbean Literary Salon
Thu 14 Feb 2013
7:15pmFree Word Lecture Theatre
The third Caribbean Literary Salon brings together award-winning writers from across the Caribbean in an intimate atmosphere to read from and discuss their work. Join us this cold, romantic Valentine's Day with Yvvette Edwards (Montserrat), author of Cupboard Full of Coats, and Raymond Antrobus (Jamaica), author of the recently released Shapes & Disfigurements Of Raymond Antrobus will be…
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Past Event: Standing up to Blasphemy Laws
Sanal Edamaruku and Free Speech in India
Wed 21 Nov 2012
1:00pmFree Word Lecture Theatre
Prominent Indian rationalist Sanal Edamaruku, currently fighting blasphemy charges in India, is in London for just 2 days. Join New Humanist and Index on Censorship for a lively, rapid-fire lunchtime event looking at Sanal’s case and more widely at the blasphemy laws in India today. Joining Sanal will be a panel of experts, including High Court Judge …
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Past Event: Translating Culture: From Copacabana to Clerkenwell
Wed 14 Nov 2012
7:00pmFree Word Lecture Theatre
Granta magazine introduces the next generation of Brazilian writers in an evening of short readings with Best Young Brazilian Novelists Vinicius Jatobá , Michel Laub and Carola Saavedra. Then, award-winning translator Margaret Jull Costa and Michel Laub will explore bringing Laub’s short story Animals into English with Granta deputy editor Ellah Allfrey. A drinks…
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Past Event: The Caribbean Literary Salon
Thu 8 Nov 2012
7:15pmFree Word Hall
The second Caribbean Literary Salon, hosted by Kevin Le Gendre (Trinidad), features acclaimed poet Maureen Roberts (Grenada), whose My Grandmother Sings to Me, was published by Bogle-L’Ouverture in 2003; and Lawrence Scott (Trinidad & Tobago), a highly acclaimed novelist who has won the Tom-Gallon Award (1986), Commonwealth Writers’ Prize (1999) and been nominated for the International Impac Dublin Literary Award (2006). …
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Past Event: Book Launch: A Poet and Bin Laden
Mon 5 Nov 2012
5:30pmFree Word Hall
The “reality novel” A Poet and Bin-Laden, set in Central Asia at the turn of the 21st century against a swirling backdrop of Islamic fundamentalism in the Ferghana Valley and beyond, gives a first-hand account on the militants and Taliban’s internal life. The novel begins on the eve of 9/11, with the narrator’s haunting…
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Past Event: Bones Will Crow
A celebration of Burmese poetry
Wed 31 Oct 2012
6:30pmFree Word Lecture Theatre
Arc Publications and English PEN are proud to celebrate the publication of Bones Will Crow: 15 Contemporary Burmese Poets With Burmese poets Thitsar Ni, Eaindra, Khin Aung Aye and co-editor and co-translator of Bones Will Crow, James Byrne + special guest Htein Lin. Readings, performance, photography and food will mark the end of a week-long UK tour by the poets that has…
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Past Event: African Book Festival
October 26th and 27th
Free Word Hall
Curated by two childhood friends from Ghana – Will Essilfie and Nii Ayikwei Parkes – the African Book Festival is very much a festival about books. It evolved out of an earlier event run by Nii called the African Book Market, responding to complaints about a lack of range of books from Africa in bookstores. He invited publishers to send…