Freedom to Read, Freedom to Write, Freedom to Move

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)

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.

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

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Host or Publisher Essex Book Festival