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20 Jul

Scottish PEN at 90: Remembering Irina & Liu

18:00 — 19:30
Glasgow Room, Mitchell Library, North Street, Glasgow, G3 7DN
£FREE

To celebrate Scottish PEN’s 90th anniversary this year we have created an engaging travelling exhibition, showcasing nine decades of Scottish literature, activism and community. Join us to mark the exhibition’s visit to Glasgow at The Mitchell Library (17th-30th July), as it traces the development of Scottish PEN in response to political and cultural shifts since 1927 – both in Scotland and across the globe.

Also for the anniversary year, we published an anthology entitled I’M COMING WITH YOU. It collects stories about home, away and in-between, and was edited by Linda Cracknell, Moira McPartlin, Lindsey Fraser and Liz Niven. Joining us in Glasgow will be writers Sue Reid Sexton, Iyad Hayatleh, Moira McPartlin and Liz Niven, reading selections from the book.

We will also use this event to honour the lives and work of Irina Ratushinskaya – Russian poet, writer and dissident who died on 5th July 2017 aged 63 – and Liu Xiaobo – the imprisoned Chinese Nobel Laureate who died on Thursday 13th July. Both writers campaigned tirelessly for the freedom to express themselves and greater respect for the fundamental freedoms of people in both Russia and China and beyond. We will remember their courage, ensuring their profound work will continue to have an impact across the globe.

This event is free of charge, and takes place in the Glasgow Room at the Mitchell Library from 6pm until 7.30pm on Thursday 20th July.