Translated writing doesn’t just help us to understand other people and other cultures; it helps us to understand ourselves.

‘At Charlie Hebdo we knew we were targeted. All my colleagues knew they were risking their lives. Before the massacre I never took events seriously, but after what happened to my colleagues I do. I must be careful – all those who defend freedom of speech have to be careful now.’

This is an edited extract from two essays by James Kelman relating to Turkey and Kurdistan, contained in his collection, And the Judges Said… and other essays [Polygon Books 2008] and is being reprinted here with the writer’s permission. The first “Freedom for Freedom of Expression Rally”, organised by a 200-strong group of artists and activists took place in Istanbul […]

Two War Correspondents Remember Bosnia Discussion at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, 17th August 2012 – Janine di Giovanni and Ed Vulliamy, – twenty years on from the beginning of the war in Bosnia. by Morelle Smith The War is Dead, Long Live the War; Bosnia, the Reckoning – Ed Vulliamy   Ghosts by Daylight; […]