The theme of freedom at this year’s Brighton Festival allows the spotlight to shine on those who may often go unnoticed in the midst of people’s busy day to day lives.
English PEN is an organisation which makes sure none of the writers around the world who have been imprisoned or persecuted for the things they have written are ever forgotten.
To celebrate its 90th anniversary, the organisation, along with Jericho House Theatre Company, have created Writing Freedom, described as “a spoken word celebration of one of our most fundamental freedoms – the right to write”.
The event used words of those who have led PEN’s fight over the last century, from HG Wells to Monica Ali, to retell its story.
But it was the accounts of writers who have faced imprisonment for their work, which were also included in the piece, that were the most hard-hitting.
Their fears of being shot for what they had written and the beatings they endured were difficult to listen to but vital to the piece.
Their words were made even more poignant by the fact that they were read by some of today’s authors including critic, broadcaster and writer Bidisha, Deborah Moggach, William Fiennes, Lemn Sissay and Jake Arnott – all of whom are fortunate enough to live in a country where they have the freedom to write.
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