English PEN Events September 2010: Daniel Pennac, Quentin Blake, Ismail Kadare

English Pen’s Writers in Public autumn season of events is now online and available for booking! Highlights in the next few months include Daniel Pennac, Quentin Blake, Ismail Kadare, Alberto Manguel and China Mieville, as well as an event on the future of literary criticism, a joint event with Granta on Pakistan and the awarding of the 2010 PEN/Pinter Prize. Do visit the website www.englishpen.org/events to see the full programme.

­Tell Mrs Mill her husband is still Dead__________________________________________________ _

In association with The Trebus Project

Monday 6 September, 7pm for 7.30pm

Venue: Free Word Centre, 60 Farringdon Road , London , EC1R 3GA

Tickets: Free, but booking essential. Please rsvp to information@trebusprojects.org

The Trebus Project celebrates the launch of Tell Mrs Mill her husband is still Dead with an evening of readings by Charlie Higson, Paul Whitehouse, Linda Robson, Arabella Weir, Brigit Forsyth, Rosie Cavaliero, John Woodvine and Felix Dexter. Tell Mrs Mill contains 46 stories, assembled over ten years by David Clegg from the fragmented memories of people with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. The stories range from dramatic eyewitness accounts of important historical events such as the London blitz and the revolution in Iran, to darkly comic conversations about mortality, hair loss, hangover cures, Princess Margaret’s bloomers and driving through a war zone with a tank of goldfish. Several stories communicate the struggle of living with dementia in episodes containing the contributor’s last spoken words.

“I can’t remember the history of me.” Sam

For more information please visit www.trebusprojects.org.

Banned Books: Is censorship by public libraries ever acceptable? ­___________________

In association with London Libraries, Free Word and Index on Censorship

Wednesday 15 September, 5.30pm

Venue: Free Word Centre, 60 Farringdon Road , London , EC1R 3GA

Tickets: Free, but booking essential. Call the Free Word Centre on 020 7324 2570 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 020 7324 2570 end_of_the_skype_highlighting or visit www.freewordonline.com/flow

Right now, public libraries are censoring their readers’ choice of books – but is this ever acceptable? With demand from the public for extremist literature in some UK libraries, it is argued that the job of librarians is to defend social cohesion and avoid texts that may offend religious or ethnic minorities. As ever-limited public money pays for books, is it right for librarians to seek to provoke public debate, or should they get on with providing what the public wants? A panel discussion with Lisa Appignanesi, President of English PEN, Douglas Murray, author of Hate on the State: How British libraries encourage Islamic extremism and Mike Clarke, Head of Camden Libraries. Chair: Cllr. Mike Harris, Public Affairs Manager of Index on Censorship. This event launches the London Libraries Banned Books Project.

Crossing the Line: Expressing Pakistan ____________________________________

In association with Granta

Thursday 16 September, 6.30pm

Venue: Free Word Centre, 60 Farringdon Road , London , EC1R 3GA

Tickets: Free, but booking essential. Call the Free Word Centre on 020 7324 2570 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 020 7324 2570 end_of_the_skype_highlighting or visit www.freewordonline.com/flow

With almost 200 million people speaking nearly 60 languages, brought into nationhood under the auspices of a single religion, but wracked with deep separatist fissures and the destabilizing forces of ongoing conflicts in Iran , Afghanistan and Kashmir , Pakistan is one of the most dynamic places in the world today. In this panel discussion, writers featured in Granta magazine's Pakistan issue will read from their work and discuss the dynamics of expression in and out of Pakistan . Writers featured in this issue include Kamila Shamsie, Nadeem Aslam, Fatima Bhutto, Aamer Hussein, and Daniyal Mueenuddin.

The Hundredth Anniversary of the Institut Francais de Londres: Heritage for the Future __________ _

Thursday 16 September, 6pm

Venue: Institut Francais du Royaume Uni, Queensberry Place , London , SW7

Tickets: Free, but booking essential. To reserve your place please email nicole.bea@diplomatie.gouv.fr

In September 1941, the 17th Intern ational PEN Congress, 'Literature and the World after the War', took place in the French Institute in London . On the 16 September 2010, as part of the celebrations of the Centenary of the Institut Français, this important collaboration between the Institut and PEN will be repeated in a round table discussion bringing together distinguished figures in the contemporary world of writing, Lisa Appignanesi , President of English PEN, Sylvestre Clancier, President of French PEN, and the publisher Christopher MacLehose, to discuss the role of writers in society today.

Everyone’s a Critic? ________

Thursday 23 September, 6.30pm

Venue: Free Word Centre, 60 Farringdon Road , London , EC1R 3GA

Tickets: Free, but booking essential. Call the Free Word Centre on 020 7324 2570 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 020 7324 2570 end_of_the_skype_highlighting or visit www.freewordonline.com/flow

The book pages of UK newspapers are under threat. Literary editors are facing huge changes in the way that they review books, yet at the same time our choice of reading matter is bigger than ever before. Whose recommendations can readers trust? Is the blogosphere a shot in the arm for reviewing culture or does democracy mean dumbing down? Join Sam Leith, former literary editor of The Daily Telegraph, Lynne Hatwell, aka top books blogger dovegreyreader, Erica Wagner, literary editor of The Times and John Mullan, Professor of English Literature at UCL, as they ask if there is there still a role for the professional literary critic. Chaired by Alex Clark.

School Blues: Daniel Pennac in conversation with Quentin Blake ________

Friday 24 September, 6.30pm

Venue: Free Word Centre, 60 Farringdon Road , London , EC1R 3GA

Tickets: Free, but booking essential. Call the Free Word Centre on 020 7324 2570 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 020 7324 2570 end_of_the_skype_highlighting or visit www.freewordonline.com/flow

Daniel Pennac has never forgotten what it was like to be a very unsatisfactory student, nor the day one of his teachers saved his life by assigning him the task of writing a novel. His latest book, School Blues, grapples with the challenges of education in a multicultural society. Aided by Sarah Ardizzone’s fluid translation, Pennac and acclaimed writer and illustrator Quentin Blake will be exploring the many facets of schooling - how fear can prompt children to reject education, how consumerism has altered attitudes to learning and how inventive thinking can captivate children, equipping them with the reading and writing skills needed for life.

Antonia Fraser: My Life with Harold Pinter ________

Friday 24 September, 6.30pm for 7pm

Venue: Savile Club, 69 Brook Street , London , W1K 4ER

Tickets: Event and glass of wine: £15 (£10 donation to English PEN); Event plus optional 3 course dinner including wine: £45. Please send a covering note and cheque for the appropriate amount made payable to ‘Savile Club Limited’ to the Savile Club at the above address

Harold Pinter and Antonia Fraser lived together from August 1975 until his death thirty-three years later on Christmas Eve 2008. Must You Go? My Life with Harold Pinter is Antonia Fraser’s moving testimony to their relationship. In a very special talk open only to members of English PEN and the Savile Club and their guests, Antonia will be discussing life as half of one of modern literature’s most celebrated marriages in conversation with Lisa Appignanesi , President of English PEN.

International Translation Day ________

In association with Free Word and London Book Fair’s Literary Translation Centre

Thursday 30 September, 9am-5pm

Venue: Free Word Centre, 60 Farringdon Road , London , EC1R 3GA

Tickets: Full day entry £20; £10 concessions, including light lunch and refreshments. Call the Free Word Centre on 020 7324 2570 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 020 7324 2570 end_of_the_skype_highlighting or visit www.freewordonline.com/flow

How does a book make its way from an international author to an English-language reader? What are the joys of publishing literature in translation – and what are the obstacles? What can we do to increase the proportion of translated literature in the UK ? Join English PEN and other leading translation organisations for a full day of events focused on literary translation. We will be hearing from some of the people who have done most to raise the profile of translation; discussing the future of funding for translation; and looking at the role of schools and universities in training the translators of the future. The symposium will provide a space for all those interested in the business of literary translation to network, share ideas and take these important debates forward.