It was my absolute pleasure to bring the four day PEN International Congress seminar programme in Oxford to a close with an ‘in conversation’ session with the award winning author, Elif Shafak. We discussed her wonderful new book There are Rivers in the Sky, how fiction really has the ability to make the case differently for the big issues such as the climate crisis, the power of literature to break down borders, and the criticality of freedom of expression. Elif ended by telling the attendees from PEN Centres in 80 different countries in the room, and another 20 or more online, how important PEN is to writers who are being persecuted, prosecuted and incarcerated by their governments and political regimes. I’m delighted that the room rose as one at the end to give Elif a standing ovation.
You can watch the entire interview HERE.
Photo credit: @RobertBrooks