SEPTEMBER EVENTS: Creative constraints, banned books and The Testaments

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August 2019

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EVENTS MONTHLY

As summer 2019 drifts toward the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, we wanted to get on your radar to tell you about the exciting series of events we have planned for September.

On Saturday 7 September, we'll be participating in a day-long symposium hosted in partnership with The Mosaic Rooms exploring the paradox of creative constraints in contemporary cinema from the Middle East – a day of film screenings and panel discussions with filmmakers, funders and programmers, including some of the most innovative rising talents as well as established experts. The symposium will offer new insights into filmmaking from the region, revitalising debates on cinematic creativity in sites of conflict and crisis in the Middle East and beyond.

Hear from and discuss the issues with film directors Mounia Akl, Naziha Arebi, Shirin Barghnavard, Ali Jaberansari, Basil Khalil; Fay Breeman, manager, Hubert Bals Fund of the International Film Festival; Tamer El Said Co-Founder Cimatheque; Index's Julia Farrington; scholars Yael Friedman and Persheng Sadegh-Vaziri; writer Malu Halasa, Writer and Editor; Rima Mismar, executive director of the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture; screenwriter Naghmeh Samini; BAFTA-nominated film producer Elhum Shakerifar. The admission price of £6.50 includes lunch and refreshments.

See the full programme.

Join us at the world-famous Foyles on Thursday 26 September to subvert the traditional book club format. A panel of special guests—chaired by CEO of Index on Censorship Jodie Ginsberg and including editor of Sex+ magazine Kim Loliya and novelist and playwright Courttia Newland—will go head-to-head, pitching their favourite banned book to the audience and opening up on the themes that saw them banned in the first place.

This provocative and lively evening aims to challenge the notion of censorship through fresh and insightful engagement with work once thought too scandalous for the bookshelves.

The Testaments, the long-awaited sequel to Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, hits the shelves on 10 September at 12:01am. To celebrate Index has teamed up with Vintage Books and indie bookshops to throw launch parties beginning on the evening of Monday 9 September: Take part in candle lit marches in Bedford, readings in Dundalk and have your testaments read out in Colchester.

Here's where you can get involved and support independent bookshops:

Crickhowell’s Book-ish will be celebrating the much anticipated publication of The Testaments by Margaret Atwood with an evening event and Old Skool midnight opening.
Dundalk’s Roe River Books will include a series of performances and selected readings. Complimentary wine and a discount of all Margaret Atwood books will be generously provided by Roe River Books.
Colchester's Red Lion Books are inviting customers to submit personal and anonymous testaments of when they have experienced forms of prejudice. These testaments will be read by an actor.
Bedford's Rogan’s Books are arranging a lantern-lit parade of handmaids through Bedford, passing landmarks such as the Embankment, the river, the wall and the eerie Castle ruins.
Bristol's Storysmith will host an informal discussion of the original novel, and enjoy 20% off your copy of The Testaments when purchased from them on the night (they’ll have plenty in stock). But alas, this event is fully booked.

Index CEO Jodie Ginsberg will be debating the freedom to speak, the freedom to tweet, the freedom to troll? hosted by the Trouble Club on Monday 16 September. Just 16 years ago Facebook arrived on the scene followed shortly by Twitter. We thought it was going to open up pleasant social discourse. How wrong we were. Ginsberg will join Seyi Akiwowo, founder of Fix The Glitch to debate the way forward for social media.

Banned Books Week kicks off on Sunday 22 September. This year, Index and partner organisations -- the British Library, Booksellers Association, English PEN, Free Word, Hachette UK, Islington Council’s Library and Heritage Service, Libraries Connected, The Publishers Association and The Royal Society of Literature -- have created an impressive array of thought provoking discussions about the impact censorship has on the ability to think freely.

23 September: 30 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, writers consider walls in literature and in our lives.
23 September: A reading and discussion of the 1962 play Under Plain Covers by John Osborne, which miraculously avoided a ban at a time when attitudes towards sexual behaviour were just turning.
26 September: The UK has no official censorship – but does that make us too complacent? Explore the challenges facing LGBTQ+ Young Adult literature with a panel of authors and experts.
26 September: Subverting the traditional book club format, a panel of special guests will go head-to-head, pitching their favourite banned book to the audience and opening up on the themes that saw them banned in the first place.
28 September: It is 70 years since George Orwell published 1984. So how do our political and personal landscapes today compare to Orwell’s dystopia? And can the book shed light on today’s data-driven security and surveillance society?

Psst: We also have an event coming up at a London museum that is not to be missed. Hold Wednesday 25 September free and we’ll let you know ASAP.

PS: You can keep up to date with the latest debates and panels on the events section of the Index website.

Index on Censorship defends people's freedom to express themselves without fear of harm or persecution. We publish censored writers and artists, monitor and campaign against censorship, and encourage debate.

We rely on donations from readers and supporters. By donating to Index you help us to protect freedom of expression and to support those who are denied that right.