Freedom to Read, Freedom to Write, Freedom to Move

Join English PEN for a conversation between writers on the relationships between literature, place, and movement.
About this Event

English PEN
Freedom to Read, Freedom to Write, Freedom to Move
Tareq Baconi, Rémy Ngamije, Khaled Alesmael

Saturday 13 June 2026, 4.00pm - 5.00pm
Lakeside Theatre, University of Essex, Colchester, CO4 3SQ

Join English PEN, in partnership with Essex Book Festival, for a conversation between writers on the relationships between literature, place, and movement.

Palestinian writer, scholar, and activist Tareq Baconi, Namibian author, editor, and publisher Rémy Ngamije, and Syria-born author and journalist Khaled Alesmael will appear in conversation with Turkish Cypriot writer and multidisciplinary artist from North London Tice Cin.

They will ask: how do experiences of home, migration, diaspora, and safety inform their writing? How do relationships to place – to land, to sea, to borders, to movement across them, to departures, to arrivals – shape creative identity and the literary landscape? And how do the freedoms to write and to read relate to the freedom to move – and to its restriction?

The event will include an audience Q&A. The speakers’ books will be available to buy and have signed.

Tickets: £8 / £5 concessions (students, under 27s and unwaged)

This event is part of The Writers Room

Essex Book Festival and the University of Essex are hosting an exciting 1-day programme of writers’ and writing events. Events include author talks and workshops, multi-genre panel discussions, and The Pitch (a 10-minute speed-date with an industry professional). Plus, an opportunity to engage with and explore the J.A. Baker Archive.

The Writers Room Day Pass
Five events for £25 / £15 concessions

1. What it takes to Make a Book - Eva Verde in conversation with Sabah Khan

2. Nature Memoir: What Next? - James Canton

3. Breaking the Mould - Holly Pester, Ben Pester and Rebecca Perry

4. Freedom to Write, Freedom to Read - English PEN

5. How to Become a Peregrine - The Cabinet of Living Cinema

Book a Writers Room Day Pass