English PEN Events November 2010

tO All,

Tickets for next Tuesday’s talk, An Evening with Alberto Manguel, are selling fast- book now for what promises to be a fascinating discussion. Later in the month PEN will be present at the Richmond upon Thames Literature Festival with several events, including a performance of Another Sky to mark the Day of the Imprisoned Writer. Then, on November 17, PEN will be holding a joint event with Index on Censorship as a preview to the launch of Index’s December issue, which will be dedicated to the Writers in Prison Committee’s 50^th anniversary.

Information about all these events, and more, can be found on our website. We hope to see you at a PEN event soon!

Telling Tales: An Evening with Alberto Manguel

Tuesday 9 November, 6.30pm

Free Word Centre, 60 Farringdon Road, London SW16 3DB

£8/£5 PEN Members

New patron of the English PEN Readers & Writers programme Alberto Manguel will read from his new book - All Men Are Liars - and discuss the contradictory and the unreliable in conversation with writer Tibor Fischer. Where can you find truth in a world ruled by lies? In his new fictional tribute to falsehood, Manguel pays homage to literature and its shape-shifting inventions. A rare treat to see this international star writer, this is a perfect night out for readers and writers and liars everywhere.

Tibor Fischer was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for his first novel, Under the Frog, which also won a Betty Trask Award, and he was nominated as one of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists. Subsequent works include The Thought Gang, The Collector Collector, Don't Read this Book if You're Stupid and Voyage to the End of the Room. His latest book Good to be God was published by Alma Books in 2008.

To book, please call 020 7324 2535 or visit our website.

Libel and Science Writing: Simon Singh

Thursday 11 November, 7.30pm

Bingham, 61-63 Petersham Rd, TW10 6UT

£5/£4 concessions

Simon Singh is the author of a number of bestselling books on science and mathematics, including Fermat’s Last Theorem and The Code Book. In April 2008 he was sued for libel by the British Chiropractic Association, after an article based on his latest book ‘Trick or Treatment?’ was published in The Guardian. Simon has since become a spokesman and poster-boy for the Libel Reform Campaign, calling for a law that allows scientists and doctors to publish their opinions without fear of a writ. Join him to discuss the art of science writing, why the libel law is not fit for purpose... and why “geek culture” is taking over the world.

To book, please call 020 8831 6494 or visit the Richmond upon Thames Literature Festival website.

Day of the Imprisoned Writer: Another Sky

Monday 15 November, 7.30pm

The Coach House, Orleans House Gallery, Riverside, Twickenham, TW1 3DJ

£3/£2 concessions/students/PEN members

"I am now convinced, more than ever, that the path of literature is the assured way to human salvation and to civilisation. I hail the power of the pen."

These are the words of poet, novelist and screenwriter and one of Nigeria's most beloved writers Ken Saro-Wiwa, who was hanged on 10 November 1995 for speaking out against Nigeria's successive military governments. His will be one of the seven silenced voices to be brought to life by King's College PEN, English PEN's inaugural student group, when they bring their sell-out performance of 'Another Sky: Voices of Conscience from around the world' to the Richmond Upon Thames Literature Festival. The performance, directed by Abbie Bergstrom and Susie Christensen and featuring seven King's students, is composed of extracts from English PEN's 2007 anthology of the work of persecuted and imprisoned writers.

The event, which will take place on the International Day of the Imprisoned Writer, will open with a keynote speech by esteemed author Moris Farhi MBE, a longstanding and invaluable member of PEN, former chair of English PEN's Writers in Prison Committee, and current Vice President of PEN International.

To book, please call 020 8831 6494 or visit the Richmond upon Thames Literature Festival website.

Because Writers Speak Their Minds

Wednesday 17 November, 7.15pm

Warwick Arts Centre, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL

£5/£5 concessions

Jo Glanville, editor of Index on Censorship, will join Carole Seymour-Jones, Chair of the Writers in Prison Committee, and President of English PEN, Lisa Appignanesi in conversation with Maureen Freely. This event will preview a very special issue of Index on Censorship, to be launched in December, which will celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of English PEN's Writers in Prison Committee. With their combined legacies of campaigning for oppressed writers around the world, this panel discussion promises an eye-opening debate across the wide-ranging issues affecting writers in all genres, in war-torn countries as well as at home in the UK and other supposedly 'free' Western nations. Held in association with Warwick Arts Centre.

To book, please call the box office on 024 7652 4524.

Immigration and Literature: Kamila Shamsie & Lisa Appignanesi

Thursday 18 November, 7.30pm

The Langdon Down Centre, Normansfield, 2A Langdon Park, Teddington TW11 9PS

£3/£2 concessions

Britain has always been a hub for international artists. The English language and our commonwealth ties make us an attractive destination for aspiring artists and internationally acclaimed writers alike. Join two such writers, acclaimed novelist Kamila Shamsie and English PEN President Lisa Appignanesi, to discuss the value that immigrant writers bring to British cultural life... and how we might stem the flow of cultural capital away from our shores. Presented in collaboration with the Manifesto Club.

To book, please call 020 8831 6494 or visit the Richmond upon Thames Literature Festival website.