English PEN prison writing awards, 25 February, London

For those of my followers who live in or around London, English PEN prison writing awards event is coming up and here are full details:

Meg Rosoff keynote speaker at English PEN prison writing awards Wednesday 25 February, 6.30pm Free Word Centre, London EC1R 3GA £4/Free Book tickets Join English PEN to celebrate the launch of the 2015 edition of our annual prison writing collection with Meg Rosoff, judge of this year's writing competition and the prize-winning author of young adult fiction titles How I Live Now, Just In Case, What I Was and The Bride’s Farewell. All guests will receive a complimentary copy of the collection, In A Parallel Universe and other voices, which features the winning and commended entries from the writing competition.   There will be performances of the prize-winning entries, free copies of the collection and a panel discussion around the importance of learning in prison, access to books and the transformative power of words with Meg Rosoff, Jackie Wood (librarian at HMP Durham, who co-ordinated Kate Tempest's recent author visit), John Podmore (former prisons inspector and governor) and Rod Clark (CEO of Prisoners' Education Trust). The panel will be chaired by BBC Broadcaster Harriett Gilbert (Presenter of the World Book Club, BBC World Service and A Good Read, BBC R4). English PEN runs workshops with prisoners offering access to literature and creative expression. It also successfully ran a campaign in 2014 with the Howard League for Penal Reform overturning restrictions on sending books to prisoners. Read more about the campaign here. Free for English PEN members. Email rebekah@englishpen.org for the discount code. For more information