Free the Word!

‘Free the Word! is International PEN in spirit and action - a festival for authors and readers to make sparks across the divide between national literatures' Sir Tom Stoppard

Words, words, nothing but words ... ?

14 - 18 April 2010

Welcome to International PEN's third Free the Word! festival of world literature in London. This year, we've extended our literary celebrations to five days to bring you over 40 writers from 25 countries, many of whom are appearing in the UK for the first time. Presenting the great writers you know and the great writers you don't, we are delighted to welcome Nobel prize-winning poet Derek Walcott, Cuban Noir novelist Leonardo Padura, graphic novelists from Israel, India and Denmark, poetry from Uyghur China, Zapotec Mexico and Somalia, a rare appearance by US author Richard Ford in conversation with Blake Morrison, as well as events featuring outspoken Egyptian novelist Nawal el Saadawi. We also invite you to join us in celebrating the 50th Anniversary of International PEN's Writers in Prison Committee who have campaigned for the freedom to write on behalf of many hundreds of writers, including Vaclav Havel, Ken Saro-Wiwa, Lydia Cacho, Jack Mapanje and Anna Politkovskaya.

 We hope that you find much to savour in this global feast of writing; so come spend a long weekend with us indulging in nothing but words ...

Tickets for events at the Southbank Centre, Southwark Playhouse, the Young Vic and Foyles bookshop are now on sale!  Click below on any of the events for more information and to book ... events at other venues will be announced soon.

To whet your appetite for the 2010 festival, you can listen to some of the 2009  festival events in London here. 

Beyond Faith and Reason

Heavenly Pleasures 

International Futures

The Insulting Cabaret

Free the Word! London 2010 is sponsored by Bloomberg, the European Union, UNESCO and Arts Council England

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