Tagged: Literature
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The Week in Ideas, 24th May 2013
Irresponsible headlines, a free speech argument Facebook might listen to, and bad examples of "Franglais". We round up some key ideas from the week gone by.
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The Week in Ideas, 10th May 2013
A Nazi-themed opera pulled from the stage; grammar used as a political weapon; a printable handgun is banned; libel is reformed. We round up some key ideas in the week gone by.
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The Week in Ideas, 26th April 2013
A dangerous hoax dents the US stock market, money talks and the arts listen, 400,000 books are given away on World Book Night and the press rebels against reform. We round up some key ideas from the week gone by in literature, literacy and free expression.
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The Week in Ideas, 19th April 2013
The rocky road to libel reform; secret filming in North Korea; a celebration of young novelists; books called to be banned in the USA. We unpick some key ideas in the world of free speech and literature from the week gone by.
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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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Lust in Translation
Andrés Neuman adds some fire to this year's Independent Foreign Fiction Prize Shortlist with his epic novel Traveller of the Century, which explores an affair between the hearts, minds and bodies of two literary translators. Together they build a language of understanding as they work to translate European poetry, whilst continuing a secret sexual relationship, leading…
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Monday Reads: “A Week in December”
Last week we hosted the launch of Cityread London, a campaign to spread a love of books and reading to the widest possible audience throughout the capital. The programme responds to the themes and ideas of one book, with bookclubs, workshops, special events, discussions and performances responding to the text scattered across the city throughout April. This year's…
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Literary Translation at the London Book Fair 2013
The full programme for this year's Literary Translation Centre at the London Book Fair has been announced, with a diverse and comprehensive collection of events for anyone with a passion for the growing industry of literary translation. With events including introductions to the craft, explanations of what publishers look for, interactive translation games and profiles of key markets, this is a dynamic and thorough programme programme suitable for everyone from the seasoned professional to the curious newcomer.
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Writers’ Room: Canan Marasligil on Translation
Fresh off the train from Amsterdam, Canan Marasligil starts her time as one of our Translators in Residence this month. We caught up with her to talk about her passion for comics, and the cultural barriers between Turkey and the UK.
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Writers’ Room: Nick Harkaway
Last Tuesday's Kitschies Awards saw Nick Harkaway's novel "Angelmaker" win the coveted Red Tentacle for being the most "intelligent, progressive and entertaining" novel containing elements of the speculative or fantastic. We caught up with Nick to ask about the novel, what he thinks of the 'genre fiction' label, and the future of literature itself.
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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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Book Burning, Banning and Bowdlerisation
In the light of recent book-burnings in Mali, Sophie Mayer reflects on the implications literature has on free speech, in advance of her upcoming course on the subject at Free Word.
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Monday Reads: The Silence and the Roar, by Nihad Sirees
Start your week with words. Every Monday we bring you a riveting read, recommended by someone in the Free Word family. This week's choice comes from English PEN, who work to promote free expression, and remove barriers to literature. Their choice is acclaimed Syrian novelist, playwright and screenwriter Nihad Sirees' newly-translated novel 'The Silence and the Roar'.
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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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Writers’ Room: Karrie Fransman on Comics
Each week we speak to someone close to Free Word with a story to tell. Karrie Fransman quit her job in advertising to become a maker of comics, and has since found success making strips for newspapers, publishing her own graphic novel and being notoriously inventive with the medium. Currently making plans with Canan Marasligil, one of our Translators in Residence, for a programme in 2013, we caught up with Karrie to ask about her work, reading habits, and plans for the future.
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Audio: “Wet Paint” by Malcolm Blythe
Our current exhibition Throwaway Lines is a cornucopia of stories from surprising places. Put together by writers' collective 26, and supported by Quietroom, Throwaway Lines paired 26 writers with 26 scraps of paper found on the streets of London, and asked them to come up with a story - to turn litter into litterature. Over the last few weeks, we've been letting…
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Audio: “My Big Fat Greek Easter” by Clair Whitefield
Our current exhibition Throwaway Lines is a cornucopia of stories from surprising places. Put together by writers' collective 26, and supported by Quietroom, Throwaway Lines paired 26 writers with 26 scraps of paper found on the streets of London, and asked them to come up with a story - to turn litter into litterature. Over the next few weeks, we'll be letting…
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Audio: Patrick Ness Reads From “The Crane Wife”
Patrick Ness reads from his upcoming book The Crane Wife for an audience at Free Word, as part of an evening of science fiction and social change presented by The Kitschies. You can find out more about Patrick and his books right here. Also reading new work at the event were Lauren Beukes and China Mieville. Recordings of the…
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Audio: Lauren Beukes Reads From “The Shining Girls”
Lauren Beukes reads an extract from her forthcoming novel The Shining Girls for an audience at Free Word, as part of an evening of science fiction and social change presented by The Kitschies. You can find out more about Lauren and her work from her website, right here. Also reading new work at the event were China Mieville and…
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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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Past Event: European Literature Night 2013
An evening with some of Europe's brightest literary talent, including Turkish journalist and author Ece Temelkuran.
Wed 15 May 2013
6:30pmBritish Library
Gathering voices from across the continent together at the British Library, European Literature Night 2013 features a wealth of prose that is as wide as the continent itself. There are the personal family stories, from the comedic Catalonian tale of four brothers who have never known each other to an Austrian exposure of generational estrangement, from an ancient Belgian family mystery…
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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: An Evening with Matt Haig
Tue 7 May 2013
6:30pmFree Word Lecture Theatre
Matt Haig, Booktrust’s online writer in residence, will be launching his new novel, the excellent and touching The Humans, a novel about an alien on a secret mission to Earth, where he encounters life, love and peanut butter sandwiches. Join us in celebrating the launch of Matt’s book by watching him in conversation with an author …
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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: Young Adult Fiction: Coming Out of the Closet
Thu 21 Feb 2013
6:30pmFree Word Lecture Theatre
This panel discussion will explore the portrayal of gay and lesbian characters and relationships in books for teens and young adults. While the US has recently seen something of an explosion in LGBT books for teens, there are still very few LGBT characters in books for this age group written and published in the UK. And although some recent well-known…
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Past Event: Free Speech and Literature
Night classes from English PEN and the Bishopsgate Institute
Weekly, Wed 20 Feb - Wed 27 Mar, 6:30pm - 8:30pm
The Sassoon Beer Board Room
Silence in the library! Censorship informs what we read and write – and how, as we’ll learn by reading exemplary writers from Allen Ginsberg to Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, we can resist. From the home to the courts, censorship informs how and what we read and write. In this course, we'll consider the difference that space makes to…
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Past Event: Abdellatif Laâbi and André Naffis-Sahely
Mon 18 Feb, 7:00pm - 8:30pm
Free Word Lecture Theatre
The prize-winning Moroccan poet, Abdellatif Laâbi, is widely acknowledged as being one of the most important poets writing today. Born in Fez in 1942, he began writing in the mid-1960s, publishing his first novel in 1969. In 1966 he founded the renowned literary magazine Souffles, a journal of literature and politics that was to earn its editor…
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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: Lightness, Love and the Iron Curtain
An Evening with Beethoven, Shostakovich and Milan Kundera
Mon 17 Dec 2012
6:30pmFree Word Hall
The Literary Consultancy offers for the third year running an unforgettable and intimate winter-warmer at the Free Word Centre, combining winter glow with the best of music and literature. The Tamesis string quartet, featuring highly acclaimed violinists Nadia Myerscough and Anna de Bruin, Matthew Quenby on viola and cellist Vicky Matthews, will perform Beethoven’s …
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Past Event: TLC Charity Event for the Maya Centre
Thu 6 Dec 2012
6:00pmFree Word Hall
The Literary Consultancy presents a fundraising evening on behalf of The Maya Centre, a charity providing free psychodynamic counselling and group psychotherapy for women in Islington Novelist, journalist and campaigner Melissa Benn will host an illustrious line-up of writers who will read from their work highlighting a variety of experiences from women’s lives.…
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Past Event: Freshta Book Launch
The launch of 'Freshta' by award-winning Czech journalist and writer Petra Procházková
Fri 23 Nov 2012
6:30pmFree Word Lecture Theatre
Join us for an unforgettable evening with war correspondent and humanitarian worker, Petra Procházková, and her translator Julia Sherwood, chaired by Lucy Popescu. The three will be in conversation about women, love, humour and life in post-Taliban Afghanistan: the topics addressed inFreshta, Petra’s first novel translated into English. A panel discussion will be…