Free the Word! at Poetry Parnassus

The Front Room, Queen Elizabeth Hall Foyer, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, City of London
Free the Word! at Poetry Parnassus  image
Ad
Event has ended
This event ended on Wednesday 27th of June 2012
Admission
Free
Venue Information
Queen Elizabeth Centre
Belvedere Road, SE1 8XX
Nearest Tube/Rail Stations
Waterloo 0.17 miles

Free series of events and creative writing workshops exploring literature and freedom of expression.

Free the Word! at Poetry Parnassus is a day of events and creative writing workshops bringing together some of the world’s most renowned writers, thinkers and academics, including Sir Andrew Motion, Jack Mapanje and John Kinsella, to debate key literary and freedom of expression issues. Visitors will also have the opportunity to take action on behalf of imprisoned and persecuted poets, get involved with ‘living’ installations, or simply to relax with a book in PEN’s reading corner. During the day writer and artist Wendy Ann Greenhalgh – AKA Story Scavenger – will be running fun, half hour creative writing workshops focusing on Writers At Risk.

Free the Word! at Poetry Parnassus is organized by PEN International in partnership with English PEN and the Southbank Centre.

Schedule:

10:00 – 11:00am
PEN International Breakfast – An introduction to PEN’s work worldwide
Meet PEN writers and learn more about PEN’s role in promoting literature and defending freedom of expression.
Speakers: Laura McVeigh, Heather Norman Soderlind, Zarganar

11:30pm – 12:30pm
Free The Word!: Zones of Conflict – Poets Caught in Global Crisis
Can poets be expected to act as spokespeople in times of crisis? Can poetry provide a suitable form of ‘resistance’?
Speakers: Adisa Basic, Rafeef Ziadeh, Minoli Salgado
Chair – Laura McVeigh, Executive Director, PEN International

13:00pm – 14:00pm
Free The Word!: Exile and Audience
How are writers affected by working in ‘dislocation’ from their native countries? How does the pressure to remain faithful to heritage whilst embracing the present situation influence literary style?
Speakers: Jack Mapanje, Syl Cheney Coker, Iman Mersal, Kosal Khiev, Mir Mahfuz Ali
Chair – Heather Norman Soderlind, Deputy Director, English PEN

14:30pm – 15:30pm
Free The Word!: Speechless: Minority languages, marginalised voices
What does the future hold for minority literatures in the era of globalisation? Why does linguistic heritage matter to writers now more than ever?
Speakers: David Shook, Craig Santos Perez
Chair – Nicholas Ostler, Chairman of the Foundation for Endangered Languages

16:00pm – 17:00pm
Free the Word!: I Am Not my Country: (Anti)nationalism, borders and identity
What are the problems associated with positioning poets as ‘national laureates’? How do borders inform our perspective on poetry as readers?
Speakers: John Kinsella, Jo Shapcott, Kapka Kassabova, Nikola Madzirov, Shailja Patel, Imtiaz Dharker
Chair – Sir Andrew Motion, Former Poet Laureate

Tags: Festival

User Reviews

There are no user reviews