What's on at Free Word Centre

International Translation Day 2012

2012-10-05T09:00:00+00:00

In association with Notes & Letters

Event date: Fri 5 Oct 9am – 5pm + Evening Special

Venue: Kings Place

Charles Hazlewood at ITD 2011 (Photo by English PEN)

From effective promotional strategies to translating across art forms; this year’s International Translation Day brings industry professionals and artists together to explore new ideas and initiatives

Launched in 2010, International Translation Day has become a unique annual event and staging post within the translation community. The ITD symposium is a collaborative venture, established and organised by several dedicated partners: the British Centre for Literary Translation, the British Council, English PEN, Free Word, Literature Across Frontiers, the London Book Fair, the Translators Association, Wales Literature Exchange and Words Without Borders.

International Translation Day is an opportunity for translators, students, publishers, booksellers, librarians, bloggers and reviewers to gather and debate significant issues and developments within the sector, to discuss challenges, and to celebrate success. It is also an opportunity to reflect on and consolidate progress.

At ITD you begin to get a sense of a momentum gathering across the literary translation sector; it is a distinctly collaborative space where determined and creative professionals who are passionate about the art of literary translation gather to push ideas and initiatives forward.

We’ve already seen exciting new projects – from translator residencies to dedicated mentoring schemes – emerging as a result of ITD discussions, and hope to see many more.

International Translation Day partners are delighted to host this year’s symposium as part of the Notes & Letters festival at Kings Place, and will be announcing the full programme soon online.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Tickets: Full day entry £30; £20 concessions, including light lunch and refreshments

For more information email: emma@englishpen.org

Torch - Film

2012-08-06T18:30:47+00:00

Event date: Mon 6 Aug 2012, 6:30pm

Venue: Free Word Lecture Theatre

Still from the trailer of Torch

Torch, (previously called Ahead of the Game) is a feature length documentary set in the heart of the neighbourhoods hosting the London 2012 Olympics.
It is a personal exploration of the multi billion pound project as seen through the eyes of AJ, a 20 year-old who grew up in poverty on the estates of the East End.
With the world's media focused on the Games, AJ exposes the reality of development in one of the poorest places in the UK. The screening will be followed by a discussion with the Directors Marc Silver and AJ Rivers.

Incursions and Subversions: Art’s response to London’s Olympic Dreams

2012-07-12T18:30:07+00:00

Event date: Thu 12 Jul 2012, 6:30pm

Venue: Free Word Lecture Theatre

Still from ‘The Games’, a film by Hilary Powell

Hilary Powell and Isaac Marrero present a series of creative critical responses to the iconography and language of the forthcoming games from their book 'The Art of Dissent: London's Olympic State' (June 2012, published by [space] and designed by See Studio).

Arab Spring Day

2012-07-08T10:00:56+00:00

In association with LIFT, Index on Censorship & the Southbank Centre

Event date: Sun 8 Jul 2012, 10:00am

Venue: Southbank Centre

As part of Southbank Centre’s London Literature Festival, this day-long event curated by writers and activists from the Middle East will provide a platform for a fusion of performances, readings and conversations, shedding light on the recent uprisings across the Arab world.

Full details to be announced soon.

Visit LIFT's website for more details and to buy tickets.

Changing the Face of Freedom

2012-06-22T10:30:52+00:00

In association with LIFT, Index on Censorship & the Southbank Centre

Event date: Fri 22 Jun 2012, 10:30am

Venue: Free Word Lecture Theatre

10.30am - 1pm

As the impact of the Arab Spring continues to reverberate around the world, we bring together LIFT international artists with artists based in the UK, from the Middle East, Burma and Belarus, to reflect on what happens to the creative vocabulary when the political landscape changes.

In a half-day conference of panel discussion and breakout sessions, we will explore how exile, oppression, revolution and democracy variously constrain or stimulate artistic freedom of expression.

To find out more visit LIFT's website.

Two Nations

2012-06-21T18:30:28+00:00

An investigation by young journalsist into national identity.

Event date: Thu 21 Jun 2012, 6:30pm

Venue: Free Word Lecture Theatre

Image via perpetualplum

A third of Londoners were born in another country. More Londoners have a parent born in another country than don’t. Split loyalties at sporting events are part of being British for many people living here. Two Nations brings together young Londoners from A New Direction’s Headstart programme to present the results of their enquiry into 'Who Londoners want to win at the Olympics and why.’

Regeneration Games

2012-06-20T19:00:03+00:00

Unpicking the Olympic regeneration of East London

Event date: Wed 20 Jun 2012, 7:00pm

Venue: Free Word Lecture Theatre

Photo by Mat Coleman

Artist, writer and photographer Alberto Duman, in association with Mute Magazine, invites ben Campkin, Owen Heatherly and David Cross to respond to a series of videos, objects and documents that question the ‘official story’ of the regeneration of East London. [read more]

This event is part of our Politics and Olympics programme, an exhibition and programme of events that offer alternative perspectives on the Games, exploring how political and commercial pressures have buffeted the ideals and values of the Olympic movement.

In a League of its Own: Is sport above human rights?

2012-06-19T18:30:01+00:00

The launch of the latest edition of Index on Censorship magazine

Event date: Tue 19 Jun 2012, 6:30pm

Venue: Free Word Lecture Theatre

Sport on trial

Does morality have a place on the playing field? Renowned sports writer Mihir Bose and Olympic historian Martin Polley will join other speakers for this timely debate. They’ll tackle the political demands facing sportsmen and sporting bodies, the conflict between the expectations of human rights groups and the demands of the sporting schedule, the politics of the calls for boycott (from Bahrain to Belarus) and the impact of commercial sponsorship.

To find out more, please email rsvp@indexoncensorship.org to register your interest.

Full Bloom: A Celebration of James Joyce’s Ulysses

2012-06-15T19:00:36+00:00

Event date: Fri 15 Jun 2012, 7:00pm

Venue: Free Word Lecture Theatre

Blacktooth Productions celebrates the 90th anniversary of a landmark in modern literature, which is now out of copyright for the first time. 'Full Bloom' consists of readings from 'Ulysses', which charts a series of riotous, tender, mundane, bawdy and phantasmagoric episodes from a single day in Dublin. Two actors, Nora Connolly and Oengus Macnamara, will be doing the readings and there will be live music.

Tickets: £7 (£5 students/interns). For further information contact pike.nm@virgin.net or mick.kidd@googlemail.com

Doors open 6pm; performance starts at 7pm.

Free Speech: Found in Translation

2012-06-11T18:30:37+00:00

Event date: Mon 11 Jun 2012, 6:30pm

Venue: The Sassoon Beer Board Room

11 June – 16 July 2012

Mondays at 6.30pm - 8.30pm

How can we speak freely if we can only speak of ourselves? Only 3% of books published annually in English are translations from other languages. For every Stieg Larsson, Khaled Hosseini or Wislawa Symborska, there are many thousands of novelists and poets whose work doesn't circulate in the global book market. On this course, led by Dr Sophie Mayer, we'll consider the politics, economics and aesthetics of literary publishing and translation. All this will be explored, with translators, editors, critics, publishers, and booksellers as special guests.

To find out more and to book your place, visit the Bishopsgate Institute's website.