Index Freedom of Expression Awards 2012

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Nadine Gordimer at the Southbank Centre

Date: 14 March
Time: 7:30pm
Venue: Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX
Tickets: £15, £12 – book here 

In the first of a series of events between Index on Censorship and the Southbank Centre,  South African novelist Nadine Gordimer will be speaking at the centre’s Literature and Spoken Word Festival on 14 March.

The 88-year-old writer, renowned for her activism, won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1991. She published her first novel in 1953, and has since gone on to publish short stories, plays and criticism in over 40 books, including The Conservationist, which won the Booker Prize in 1974. Gordimer’s latest novel, published to coincide with the event, is No Time Like the Present.

The festival will run from January to March. Tickets can be booked online here.

A discussion with Abdelkader Benali and Hisham Matar, chaired by Jo Glanville

Date: Thursday 26 January
Time: 6:30pm
Venue: UCL, entrance Malet Place, Medical Sciences Building, AV Hill Lecture Theatre

Tickets: free, book here

TIME-TRAVELS IN LITERATURE AND POLITICS

Abdelkader Benali (Moroccan-Dutch author of Wedding by the Sea, and journalist) and Hisham Matar (Libyan author of In the Country of Men and Anatomy of a Disappearance) discuss freedom of speech, the Arab Spring and artistic responses now and in the past to revolutionary events.

Jo Glanville, editor of Index on Censorship, will chair the event.

The discussion will be followed by a drinks reception.

A panel debate on science and transparency to launch the science issue

Date: Tuesday 6 Dec
Time: 6.30 – 8pm
Venue: Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, Mechanical Engineering Building, Exhibition Road, London SW7 2AZ
Tickets: Free but limited – register here 

Join Index on Censorship for ‘Data Debate: is transparency bad for science?’, a panel debate to launch the new issue of Index on Censorship magazine, ‘Dark Matter: what’s science got to hide?’

Scientific data is more freely available than ever. But does the push for openness help or hinder science?

Speakers include Sir Mark Walport, Director of the Wellcome Trust, George Monbiot, Guardian columnist and Baroness Onora O’Neill. Jo Glanville, Editor of Index on Censorship, will chair.

Many thanks to SAGE for their kind sponsorship of this event.

English PEN presents: Night of the Imprisoned Writer

Night of the Imprisoned Writer

A unique performance evening to mark the 30th annual Day of the Imprisoned Writer, in association with ice&fire theatre company.

Hello Mr Miller, Hello Mr Pinter

Don’t miss your chance to see this special one-off performance in which the powerful words of persecuted writers from Mexico to Bahrain, from Kenya to Azerbaijan, have been woven together by award-winning playwright Sonja Linden and English PEN’s Cat Lucas. Directed by Christine Bacon and performed by Actors for Human Rights, ‘Hello…’ is both a moving celebration of PEN’s work on behalf of imprisoned and persecuted writers around the world and a concrete testament to the bravery of those writers who, often at great risk to themselves and their families, continue to speak out.

Stand Up For Writers In Prison

And because no-one speaks out quite like a comic, we’re delighted to be bringing you some of today’s finest acts to illustrate what freedom of speech is all about……

How to book

Tickets are £10 and all proceeds will go directly to English PEN’s Writers in Prison Programme.

To book, please click here: http://www.carnivalvillage.org.uk/all-events/night-of-the-imprisoned-writer/

English PEN’s Writers in Prison Programme would like to thank Richard and Elena Bridges for their invaluable support.

9 November: Libel Reform Campaign rally at House of Commons

Please join us in parliament on Wednesday 9 November to tell MPs why libel reform has to happen now.

The Joint Committee on the Draft Defamation Bill last week urged the government to strengthen their proposals for reform, in line with recommendations from the Libel Reform Campaign. There is still work to be done to protect free speech from the stifling effects of current libel law: to provide a stronger, wider and more accessible public interest defence; and to make sure proposals on the internet work for bloggers and forums.

Our biggest battle will be to make sure libel reform does not get pushed off a crowded parliamentary agenda. It is vital that ensure Parliamentarians know the strength of support for libel reform. Please join Index on Censorship, English PEN and Sense About Science and supporters including Simon Singh, Which?, Society of Editors, Global Witness, AOL and Liberty:

Wednesday 9 November 2011, 6pm

Committee Room 10, House of Commons

Every day we hear about new cases of scientists, publishers and bloggers being threatened with libel action. We have we got to this historic point with your support. If we let the momentum slip now, the opportunity for change could be lost.

We really hope you can join us to show MPs that libel law reform can’t wait. Please let us know if you can come, newslibelreformorg  (newslibelreformorg)  

A copy of the invitation can be found here.

An auction of Martin Rowson’s inimitable Stripsearch cartoons

Date: Tuesday 8 Nov

Time: 6.30pm
Venue: Free Word Centre, 60 Farringdon Road EC1R 3GA
To attend please RSVP to jo[at]indexoncensorship.org

The UK’s greatest political cartoonist, Martin Rowson has been lampooning the good, the great and the downright scurrilous in the pages of award-winning Index on Censorship magazine since 2001, and is a regular contributor to the Guardian and the Independent On Sunday. From Tony Blair and obscenity to Twitter and super-injunctions, Rowson’s satirical series is an unparalleled commentary on the highs and lows for freedom of expression over the past ten years.

This is a rare opportunity to buy an original Rowson cartoon and support the work of Index on Censorship in the fight for freedom of expression.

The auction will be hosted by Radio 4′s Laurie Taylor. There will be a drinks reception for guests.

View the catalogue for the auction here: