Free Word

"I was thinking a lot about mindfulness. How it can help with noticing when we are being cruel to ourselves which then leads us to gently adjust ourselves back to kind thoughts. I think mindfulness can be a great teacher of kindness as it requires one to be radically honest with themselves in order to become mindful of one's full self and surroundings. In this poem the shadow is that part of the poet that is confronted with this personal radical truth that shows the hard emotional and spiritual work it takes to cultivate loving kindness of self. Ultimately, even though it's kinda long, it pays off to be kind to ourselves in order to be kind(er) to those around us." Listen to Writer and Poet Belinda Zhawi’s ‘be kind to your shadow’, commissioned by Free Word for How To Be Kind. @freewordcentre freeword.org

"We laugh bent double, tears in our eyes, though the laughing don’t laugh out the sadness. We laugh until our shoulders pulse to breathless sobs. Taste the salt from our eyes and sweet from our nostrils. Shake off the shame flaked like dead skin around us. Sweep what the wind is too weak to carry. Keep a small mound for the corner shrine, to wonder on how that dust was first a fist, a heavy silence, rejection and fight." Listen to Writer, Poet and Musician Brother Portrait's piece 'Hold Me Through These Dreams', commissioned by Free Word for How To Be Kind. @freewordcentre freeword.org

Enjoy this podcast with Creative Strategist Suzanne Alleyne and CEO & Artistic Director of Eclipse Theatre, Amanda Huxtable, exploring how preconceptions of how ‘success’ and ‘power’ affect our mindsets. This conversation draws on neurology to begin to explore what is happening in our brains when we acquire or lose power and what this might mean for our own power and agency. Part of Free Word's Finding Power In Isolation season. freeword.org @freewordcentre

A poem by Talia Randall. Household Father’s beard is a swarm of bees. Brother can’t remember which teenage mutant turtle is which. Sister builds an igloo out of choc-ices. Mother pays for everything. The stray cat visits and eats tuna off the posh china. Father calls the cat Jeremy. Father sees himself in Jeremy. Sister sees herself in brother. Brother sees himself in the TV. Mother realises she left herself in the old country. On the night they get cable they invite the neighbours round for a séance. They rent the house from a giant who sometimes thinks about eating them and sometimes forgets they exist. One day they buy it (with money, they had run out of beans). For breakfast they eat lard and avocado sandwiches And Jeremy does the weekly bills, “too much on toilet-paper” he says.

The UK is facing a housing crisis unlike anything seen in recent history. Priced out of their homes and unable to secure permanent housing, Generation Rent are unable to put down roots in their communities. Change is long overdue. Listen back to an incendiary night of poetry and reflection from Spread the Word’s Young People’s Laureate Theresa Lola, poets Amaal Said and Seraphima Kennedy and illustrator Olivia Twist.

Immerse yourself in this digital sound installation as poet Amina Jama takes you through a 1990s migrant Somali living room paying homage to the rich Somali culture, Black Britishness, migration, and the creativity that arises from displacement. Grab a cup of tea and make yourself comfortable… #WritingOurWayHome Twitter/Instagram/Facebook @freewordcentre freeword.org

Listen back to the launch of Somali-British writer Amina Jama’s debut poetry collection, exploring the legacy of poetry and art, and the ways we are influenced by the voices that have come before us. Edited by Jacob Sam-La Rose and published by Flipped Eye, A Warning To The House That Holds Me responds to the work of Safia Ehillio, Hanif Abdurraqib, Ocean Vuong, Caroline Bird and most prominently Frida Kahlo. Amina Jama draws on experiences of home, autonomy and passage, writing in conversation with Kahlo and exploring the varied and unusual spaces some call home. This podcast features readings from some of the freshest, most exciting voices in the UK poetry and performance scene including poets Ola Elhassan, Amaal Said, Sumia Jaama, Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan, Hibaq Osman and musician Dulaeh Oke. Hosted by poet and visual artist Ruth Sutoyé. #WritingOurWayHome Twitter/Instagram/Facebook @freewordcentre freeword.org

How do explorations of our personal histories inform our understanding of home? Rathbones Folio Prize and Ted Hughes Award-winning poet Raymond Antrobus, multi-award-winning poet and memoirist Hannah Lowe and acclaimed writer, historian and producer Colin Grant have all written compellingly about their fathers’ experiences emigrating from Jamaica to the UK. How have they interpreted these shared, yet distinct, family stories in their work, and how has it shaped them as writers? Listen back as celebrated writers Raymond Antrobus, Hannah Lowe and Colin Grant explore stories of Caribbean fatherhood. In collaboration with Arvon. The event is introduced by Andrew Kidd, Arvon’s Chief Executive and Artistic Director. #WritingOurWayHome Twitter/Instagram/Facebook @freewordcentre

Our country is in the middle of a housing emergency. Failure to provide enough social homes is the root cause of the housing emergency. Yet the number of social homes being built is at its lowest for 70 years with over one million households on the waiting list. We need to fix the broken housing system. Listen back to the conversation with housing and homelessness charity Shelter featuring the first dedicated LGBTQI+ crisis and community centre The Outside Project, author Luan Goldie, poet and campaigner Kojo Apeagyei and Liza Begum. #WritingOurWayHome Twitter/Instagram/Facebook @freewordcentre freeword.org

"I know it’s all a matter of rebuilding one’s life. In many ways it’s a matter of surviving and living under another sun, but how was I to do that?" Listen back to this conversation with writers Long Litt Woon and Zakiya Mckenzie, exploring the power of nature as a source of healing and belonging. #WritingOurWayHome Twitter/Instagram/Facebook @freewordcentre freeword.org

Diaspora is Whitechapel, Bradford, Southall, Wilmslow Road and Alum Rock; diaspora is the memes we share, the turns of phrases we use, the languages we speak and don’t speak. Listen back to an excerpt taken from Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan's brand new performance piece on a world beyond origins. At a time when nation states throughout the West are struggling to make sense of their diasporic populations and defining them as ‘other’, where the rhetoric of ‘go back to where you came from’ echoes across the globe, this explosive new performance piece from poet Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khoon, with live percussion from Sarathy Korwar, reminds us that diasporas are irrevocably rooted in – and inseparable from – the places that we live in. @freewordcentre #WritingOurWayHome freeword.org

With press freedom under greater threat around the world now than ever before, an increasing number of journalists are finding themselves exiled from their home countries, forced to flee for their safety to avoid violent attacks, torture, or lengthy imprisonment in retaliation for their reporting. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) UK Bureau Director Rebecca Vincent,Turkish journalist and activist Ege Dündar, editor of Al-Hudood Isam Uraiqat and British-Iranian journalist Rana Rahimpour join to share exile experiences as a journalist. @freewordcentre #WritingOurWayHome freeword.org

What power does literature have in hostile environments? Can it do more than describe homes and spaces of belonging –– can it create them? In a society overwhelmed with questions of who has the right to be heard and who doesn’t, can literature strengthen threatened communities? Black British writers Roger Robinson, Winsome Pinnock, Inua Ellams, Bridget Minamore reflect on writing and resistance with Wasafiri. @freewordcentre #WritingOurWayHome freeword.org

How do you self care and develop your career at the same time? Are you constantly feeling like your self-care has to take second place to your career?  As individuals how do we self care whilst maintaining both our career development and professional persona? As an organisation how do you support employee self-care and enhance your business? This podcast addresses a question that has become increasingly difficult in the current economic, social and political climate. Featuring: Arts Council England Changemaker Suzanne Alleyne; Tourettes Hero Jess Thom; Paraorchestra Jonathan Harper; HR Professional and counsellor Lisa Bent; arts producer, consultant and coach Elizabeth Lynch; and psychotherapist and counsellor Dawn Estefan. Supported by Free Word, Arts Council England, Apples and Snakes, The Watch Men Agency, d237 and Arts Professional.

Bald Black Girl(s) is a multi-disciplinary project created by poet, producer and visual artist Ruth Sutoyé, which centres the narratives of black women who choose to shave their heads, and explores perceptions of masculinity, femininity and androgyny alongside sexuality, gender identity and barbershop dynamics. Twitter/Instagram/Facebook @freewordcentre freeword.org

#AllTheWaysWeCouldGrow Instagram/Twitter/Facebook: @freewordcentre freeword.org

Novels arrive on bookshelves as if they were always whole and perfect. But what is kept hidden from view? And what is the effect of keeping that process – the scenes from the cutting room floor, the false starts, the dead ends and failed drafts – hidden? Writers Wyl Menmuir, Fiona Melrose and Amer Anwar joined for a no holds barred look at the notebooks, graphs, sketches and scribbles no one ever gets to see. Twitter/Instagram/Facebook @freewordcentre freeword.org

The sound of the Qur’an read aloud is a cultural signifier used across media and the arts to indicate the presence of Muslims and of Islamic religious expression. But how often do you hear the Qur’an recited in public by someone who isn’t a man? Marking both International Women’s Day 2019, and the first event of All The Ways We Could Grow, Inclusive Mosque Initiative (IMI), supported by Free Word, presents a discussion on the significance of recitation as a tradition of liturgy and the representation of female and non-binary Muslim voices within this tradition. Chaired by IMI Trustee Halima Gosai Hussain, the conversation features peace activist and writer Madinah Javed and IMI Trustee Wasi Daniju. In this podcast you'll also find melodic recitations from the final chapters of the Qur’an as well as an exclusive trailer to IMI's upcoming digital sound installation - which you can preview here. #AllTheWaysWeCouldGrow Instagram/Twitter/Facebook: @freewordcentre freeword.org

After a free CryptoParty London workshop, a panel of experts explore the intricacies of digital security.

In a post-Brexit world, how should we treat the legacy of the British Empire? We partnered with race equality organisation Runnymede Trust for the final event in our first season, curating a debate that takes an uncensored look at Britain’s colonial past and the narratives that are used to construct legacies while eliminating certain histories. Our panellists included rapper and activist Lowkey, journalist and author David Goodhart, Professor of Postcolonial and Decolonial Studies Dr Gurminder Bhambra and journalist and commentator Remi Adekoya. It was chaired by writer and activist Zahra Dalilah. #ThisIsPrivate Instagram/Twitter/Facebook: @freewordcentre freeword.org

An intimate look at youth and womanhood, exploring desire, sex, friendship and alienation with writers Margarita Gracia Robayo, Sharlene Teo and Sarvat Hasin.

Part 2 of 'Our Bodies Will Not Be Policed' Throughout history, cultures and continents, women’s bodies have been policed. In this digital age of social media and online profiles, to be in the public sphere as a woman is to be subjected to unwarranted commentary, critique and abuse. Join us for the second part of 'Our Bodies Will Not Be Policed' as Young People’s Laureate for London Momtaza Mehri leads a frank, open discussion with Photographer and Poet Amaal Said and Journalist, Poet and Senior Editor of Novara Media, Eleanor Penny.

Part 1 of 'Our Bodies Will Not Be Policed' Throughout history, cultures and continents, women’s bodies have been policed. In this digital age of social media and online profiles, to be in the public sphere as a woman is to be subjected to unwarranted commentary, critique and abuse. Young People’s Laureate for London Momtaza Mehri curates a rebellious, unapologetic and exhilarating event response to these issues with performances and frank, open discussions, joined by Photographer and Poet Amaal Said and Journalist, Poet and Senior Editor of Novara Media, Eleanor Penny.

In a society dominated by the politics of fear and shame – how are black, brown, Muslim and working class groups forced into silence? What language must be created between ourselves – outside of oppression and beyond hurt – to hear each other and transform the world over? Join writer and arts educator Farzana Khan, former Young People’s Laureate for London, Selina Nwulu, Dr Azeezat Johnson and singer/song-writer Promi Ferdousi for powerful, inspiring discussions and performances, in response to Farzana’s debut piece “Revolutionary Mothering: Staying Alive in Violent Times”. This event is part of our THIS IS PRIVATE Season.

How is music that reflects the lives of marginalised youths on inner-city estates treated in the UK? “This is how it’s been from the beginning, it’s just that everyone is hearing about it now.” South London rapper Giggs spoke out in 2010 about the forced cancellations of his shows by the Met Police using the risk assessment Form 696. 8 years later, Form 696 has been scrapped, yet UK drill groups are being banned from YouTube and in some cases prohibited from making music without police approval, in case of lyrics that “encourage violence”. How is music that reflects the lives of marginalised youths on inner-city estates treated in the UK, and what does this say about the censoring of certain voices and communities? With Grime MC P Money, DJ A.G, Drill Producer Carns Hill and Journalist Ciaran Thapar. This is an audio recording of a Free Word and TRENCH pre-season event for THIS IS PRIVATE, and part of Banned Books Week UK.

The closing speech from Roma Backhouse, Director of Free Word.

Hear from curators and our translator-in-residence about what the British Library can do for you. This session will introduce some of the extensive resources available to translators and explore their potential for use across a wide range of research, educational, professional and creative work. The Library’s collections include archives of literary translators, sound and oral history recordings, a vast array of print publications in most written languages of the world, historical dictionaries and much more. With Rachel Foss, Head of Contemporary Archives and Manuscripts, British Library, Jen Calleja, Translator in Residence, British Library, and colleagues Pardaad Chamsaz, Deborah Dawkin and Teresa Vernon.

TRANSLATOR OR ACTIVIST? Join PEN staff for an informal session on the crossover between translation and activism. For more than 50 years, PEN has been campaigning on behalf of writers at risk around the world - whether imprisoned, on trial, subject to threats or whose work is banned. Translation has always been a crucial component of this work: helping to inform the outside world of their situation, facilitating contact with their families and legal teams, and giving a voice to those that have been silenced. In more recent years, PEN has also worked with displaced writers and those living in exile, many of whom have themselves been at risk in their own countries and often struggle to have their voices heard here in the UK. During this informal session, we will discuss the various ways in which translators can support PEN’s work and, more generally, use their linguistic skills for good.

The panel assesses the cultural impact made by the literature of the vast, Arab-speaking region with its multiple countries and histories, on a global English-language readership that has become increasingly ready to engage with literature in translation. Which works are translated into English and to what extent do they challenge or perpetuate stereotypes? Does ‘the Arab world’ as conveyed through the books we see published give us the whole picture - or are there many other works in Arabic which deserve to be translated? Which authors and narratives are privileged over others, and which ones get left out? How do titles make their way into the English-language market, who are the gatekeepers who decide what is translated, why and when? Panel: Ali Bader (author and publishing editor), Alice Guthrie (translator, producer of Shubbak festival’s literary programme), Marcia Lynx Qualey (ArabLit blog), Wen-Chin Ouyang (academic, SOAS) Chair: Bidisha (writer, journalist, broadcaster) With support from The Arab British Centre

Welcomes And Introduction to International Translation Day 2017.

Aimed at early career translators. A lecture with Helen Stevenson who was longlisted for the 2017 Man Booker International Prize with Alain Mabanckou for Black Moses. She will share her experience, practice, and advice, and discuss the collaborative work it takes to produce an outstanding book in translation. With support from the Booker Prize Foundation

This session will look at how the career of the literary translator as we know it has been changing over the last year through new opportunities, working models and self-initiated sidelines. Coming together to discuss the significance, importance and, in some cases, necessity of these new developments will be British Library Translator in Residence Jen Calleja, Ruth Clarke of new translation collective The Starling Bureau, and a member of Shadow Heroes, a project bringing translation into schools, and Shadow Heroes co-founder Gitanjali Patel. The panel will be chaired by Writers’ Centre Norwich’s International Director, Kate Griffin.

Join translator and academic Amanda Hopkinson who will present three South American authors she has worked with who never intended to address human rights in their work, but found it impossible not to. Professor Alison Phipps, lead researcher on Researching Multilingually at the Borders of Language: the Body, Law and the State at the University of Glasgow, will discuss the real life interactions that migrants face when fleeing their home countries. She will be joined by the project’s poet in residence Tawona Sitholé. Chris Gribble joins the panel in his role as the chair of the board of International Cities of Refuge Network (ICORN). Samantha Schnee, Founding Editor of Words Without Borders, will chair the session. With support from the AHRC “Translating Cultures” theme

What are the specific challenges of translating poetry? Who is best equipped to do it - the solo translator, co-translators or even collaborative groups - and why? How do you best engage with a source text, and how do you ensure that the end result ‘lives and breathes’ in the target language? Does it matter whether poetry translations are ‘marketable’, or do they exist primarily to further academic research? And could translation be a part of the UK’s poetry ‘renaissance’? Join practising translator and academic Sophie Collins, Literature Across Frontiers director Alexandra Büchler and Poetry Book Society manager Alice Mullen to mull over the big issues of the day for poetry in translation. Chaired by Erica Jarnes, managing director of the Poetry Translation Centre.

This plenary panel will examine the UK’s changing demographics, and what they might tell us about who translators are and where we might find them. How has the make-up of our cities changed? Will translators of the future be drawn mostly from second-generation urban immigrants rather than(as in the past) primarily anglophones with modern languages degrees? Will Brexit make things worse, or better? How well is the diversity of our contemporary culture currently reflected in the translation profession, and what can we do to improve the breadth of that representation? With Sarah Ardizzone, Vanni Bianconi, Adrian Blackledge and Francisca McNeill, chaired by Erica Jarnes, managing director of the Poetry Translation Centre. With support from the AHRC “Translating Cultures” theme

On 13 March 2017, author Bakhtiyar Ali introduced his book I Stared at the Night of the City, a lyrical interpretation of contemporary Kurdistan with a kaleidoscope of unreliable narrators. Featuring: Bakhtiyar Ali, Kareem Abdulrahman, Hassan Abdulrazzak and Alexandra Büchler Wanderlust: Great Literature from Around the World is a monthly event series at Free Word. To explore the Wanderlust events we’ve held so far and read about (and around) some of the books we’ve featured, click here: www.freewordcentre.com/explore/projects/wanderlust

On 16 February 2017, 89up launched They're Your Rights: Fight For Them rally was the official launch of a report on human rights post-Brexit, authored by Sashy Nathan following a successful crowdfunded campaign last year. Following the UK Supreme Court Miller judgment and before the triggering of Article 50, this event aimed to rally people around the notion of their rights in an increasingly unstable world. Listen to short speeches from: Actor and activist Sam West Women’s rights campaigner Caroline Criado-Perez Dr Fergal Davis, constitutional law expert from King’s College London Emma Hughes, environmental activist at Platform Sashy Nathan, director of advocacy at 89up Carly Nyst, digital rights campaigner The whole event was broadcasted live by 89up on They’re Your Rights’ Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/Theyre-Your-Rights-Fight-For-Them-721376228022391/

On 13 February 2017, German writer Steven Uhly discussed his new book, a thrilling epic novel of resettlement, with the translator of the English version, Jamie Bulloch. Featuring: Jamie Bulloch and Steven Uhly. Wanderlust: Great Literature from Around the World is a monthly event series from Free Word. Listen to writers and translators from around the world and hear them talk about their creative work. To explore the Wanderlust events and books we've held so far, click here: www.freewordcentre.com/explore/projects/wanderlust

On 16 January 2017, Polish writer Wioletta Greg introduced her book Swallowing Mercury, the tale of a girl growing up in communist Poland and trying to make sense of it in her own way. Featuring: Wioletta Greg, Eliza Marciniak and Marta Dziurosz Wanderlust: Great Literature from Around the World is a monthly event series at Free Word. To explore the Wanderlust events we’ve held so far and read about (and around) some of the books we’ve featured, click here: www.freewordcentre.com/explore/projects/wanderlust

Listen to stories, poems and discussion looking at our rapidly changing world and what action we can take to help our environment and each others. Readings of new work by: Justina Hart, Emma Howell, Darragh Martin, Sarah Thomas and David Thorpe. Professor Harriet Bulkeley, Durham University, spoke with two of the writers and Dr Jane Ridiford, co-founder of Global Generation to look at how stories can help encourage action. Then Global Generation, which works to build community between each other and the natural world, took everyone through a free writing exercise with energising results. This event was presented by TippingPoint, Free Word and Durham University, with additional funding from ESRC and Arts Council England on Thursday 19 January 2017.

On 12 December 2016, Read Paper Republic hosted an evening of speed-book clubbing at Free Word Centre on contemporary fantasy fiction from China. We asked people to read the short stories before the event, and come along to share their thoughts and questions with translators. Featuring translators Nicky Harman, Dave Haysom, Emily Jones and Helen Wang. Wanderlust: Great Literature from Around the World is a monthly event series at Free Word. To explore the Wanderlust events we’ve held so far and read about (and around) some of the books we’ve featured, click here: https://www.freewordcentre.com/explore/projects/wanderlust

How have political ideologies and crises impacted families throughout history? With new austerity measures under discussion, a refugee problem continuing, the aftermath of the Brexit vote and more to come, it is one the most relevant questions today. How do writers reflect these pressures in characters, in their work? And how do they engage with alleged realities when creating fictional versions of their own? On 18 October 2016 novelists Benjamin Markovits and Joanna Kavenna came together at Free Word Centre to discuss these issues with John Freeman, editor of the literary journal Freeman's.

On 10 October 2016, Danish writer Thomas Rydahl brought his extraordinary debut crime novel The Hermit - translated by K. E. Semmel - to Free Word Centre and discussed the themes of the book with Dr Jakob Stougaard-Nielsen. Set in Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands, the novel's unlikely hero, a 67 year old ex-pat Danish taxi driver, is caught up in a dangerous web of corruption and murder. Wanderlust: Great Literature from Around the World is a monthly event series at Free Word. To explore the Wanderlust events we’ve held so far and read about (and around) some of the books we’ve featured, click here: https://www.freewordcentre.com/explore/projects/wanderlust

Poetry, performance and film to begin Highlight Arctic, a year-long multi-arts festival from and about the circumpolar North. Featuring Niillas Holmberg, a Sámi poet, musician, actor and activist and Jessie Kleemann, an Inuit poet and performance artist. The two films screened at this event were Pitaqangittuq (2010 – Dir. Guillaume Ittukssarjuat Saladin, Félix Pharand D., Nicolas Tardif) and Hollow Earth (2014 – Dir. Tanya Busse & Emilija Skarnulyte). This event was presented by Highlight Arts (http://highlightarts.org) in partnership with Free Word on 28 November 2016.

How does a climate of censorship affect art? There are different ways of not being allowed to speak. Artists discuss how issues of censorship are reflected in their art. How does censorship affect the language of the body? Are there things we cannot say, even when not using language? Body Politic is Dance Umbrella’s strand of discussions and debates focusing on key cultural issues affecting dance and performance. This was a Dance Umbrella initiative, presented in partnership with Free Word, Index on Censorship and One Dance UK.

On 14 November 2016, award-winning Norwegian author Brit Bildøen joined us at Free Word Centre to read from her novel Seven Days in August - translated by Becky Crook - and share her thoughts on love, loss, relationships and climate change. Set a few years after the deadly 2011 terror attack in Norway’s Utøya Island, Otto and Sofie are trying to put the pieces of their life back together without their beloved daughter, who was murdered alongside countless other youths on one of the worst days in Norway’s history. Wanderlust: Great Literature from Around the World is a monthly event series at Free Word. To explore the Wanderlust events we’ve held so far and read about (and around) some of the books we’ve featured, click here: https://www.freewordcentre.com/explore/projects/wanderlust

Acclaimed representative of the Polish school of reportage, Witold Szabłowski, and the Guardian‘s favourite reportage illustrator, George Butler, share the lessons they’ve learned about how to tell stories that hold onto the truth of another’s experience. This event was chaired by Jo Glanville, Director of English PEN.

Paul Gravett, co-curator of the British Library’s landmark 2014 exhibition, Comics Unmasked: Art and Anarchy in the UK, explores this history, examines how comic creators and readers have fought back, and considers the current climate for freedom of expression. Presented by the British Library in partnership with Free Word and Islington Library and Heritage Services. Part of Banned Books Week 2016: http://www.bannedbooksweek.org

An evening of discussions on the current threat of censorship to literary works and the issues surrounding free speech, presented by the British Library in partnership with Free Word and Islington Library and Heritage Services and in association with the American Library Association. Part of Banned Books Week 2016: http://www.bannedbooksweek.org

Multilingual writers Vanni Bianconi, Xiaolu Guo and Bohdan Piasecki discuss linguistic mixing and matching, identifying (or not)with a language and self-translation.

The opening plenary of International Translation Day 2016 brought together a translator/writer, an agent/scout, an editor/publisher, a publicist, a distributor, a bookseller and a member of the media on one stage to discuss the entire chain from author to reader. They asked: What does it take to successfully publish translated literature, what are the pitfalls, and what can be done to make things better?