The Orwell Festival: opening week highlights
From Putin's Russia to the aftermath of the British Empire, this week's events are truly global in scope.
The Orwell Festival (22nd June - 14th July) launched in style last night with Rebecca Solnit’s Orwell Festival Lecture, exploring themes from her book Orwell’s Roses.
In her lecture, Solnit gave a personal account of her own re-encounter with the role of nature in George Orwell’s writing, from the ‘dreamlike’ imagery of Nineteen Eighty-Four to essays like ‘Some Thoughts on the Common Toad’.
The US-based author argued for the importance of taking joy in ordinary things in the face of political and environmental crises across the world: "in a very straightforward way, the things you love, that give you pleasure and joy keep you going - in the case of Orwell his commitment to them was striking.”
The next events in our opening week are global in scope. Yet, from the unequal aftermath of the British Empire with Kojo Koram and Grace Blakely, to life in Putin’s Russia with 2021 Orwell Prize winner Joshua Yaffa and author Catherine Belton, our guests will be casting a keen eye on how politics effects everyday life.
The Festival continues tonight with a special event at University College London on Bismarck and Political Power, with Dominic Cummings, Richard Evans, Gideon Rachman, and Katja Hoyer. Responding to Orwell’s own criticism of political ‘realism’ the panel will discuss whether the German Chancellor’s approach to politics is relevant in today’s volatile world.
Read on for a preview of our upcoming events this week . . .
Uncommon Wealth with Kojo Koram and Grace Blakely
Monday 27th June, 7PM, Gustav Tuck LT, UCL, WC1E 6BT
George Orwell cut his chops as a writer with a searing criticism of the British Empire at the height of its power: but the British didn’t just put back the world the way they found it. Join Kojo Koram for a discussion of his book Uncommon Wealth and the issues it raises, with Grace Blakeley, economics and politics commentator, columnist, journalist and author. Tickets from £6 here.
Putin and the People: Catherine Belton and Joshua Yaffa
Wednesday 29th June, 7PM, Pushkin House, WC1A 2TA
The invasion of Ukraine has acted as a tipping point in the West's relationship with Putin's Russia, with tragic consequences for those on the ground, and far-reaching repercussions on global supply chains, finances and geopolitics. But what are the roots of this current crisis, and were we always destined to reach this stand-off again, thirty years after the end of The Cold War? And what do ordinary Russians feel about their country today, and their futures, both individually and collectively?
Next Wednesday, join Joshua Yaffa, the winner of the Orwell Prize for Political Writing 2021 for his book Between Two Fires: Truth, Ambition, and Compromise in Putin's Russia, and Catherine Belton, author of Putin's People at Pushkin House (and online) for a wide-ranging conversation on these issues and more.
Orwell Prize shortlist readings: Yara Rodrigues Fowler & Isabel Waidner at the London Review Bookshop
Thursday 30th June, 7PM, London Review Bookshop, WC1A 2JL
Since 2019, the Orwell Prize has celebrated the best in contemporary political fiction. Yara Rodrigues Fowler and Isabel Waidner, both on the prize’s 2022 shortlist, will be in conversation with Sana Goyal, one of this year’s judges, talking about their novels there are more things and Sterling Karat Gold – books which not only take political issues as subject-matter but enact radical politics through their form.
Browse the full schedule of events on The Orwell Festival website. Or visit the Orwell Foundation website to find out more about our work promoting Orwell’s legacy.
Each week here on our Substack we’ll bring you a round up of our most recent events, and a preview of what’s still to come. And we’ll continue to share new writing and exclusive interviews from this year’s Orwell Prize finalists.
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