The Ripples of Hope Festival is delighted to host the 2021 PEN HG Wells Lecture, which will be delivered by celebrated novelist and activist Elif Shafak. Elif will be introduced by the President of English PEN and renowned human rights lawyer Philippe Sands QC.
Elif Shafak is an award-winning British-Turkish novelist. She has published 19 books, 12 of which are novels. She is a bestselling author in many countries around the world and her work has been translated into 55 languages. Her latest novel 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and RSL Ondaatje Prize; and was Blackwell’s Book of the Year. The Forty Rules of Love was chosen by BBC among the 100 Novels that Shaped Our World.
The PEN HG Wells Lecture showcases visionary writing and new thinking, and is held in honour of the former PEN president, author, visionary and human rights campaigner HG Wells. Wells foresaw the creation of the worldwide web, most notably in a series of talks and essays entitled World Brain. Other revolutionary ideas set out in The Rights of Man influenced the development of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
English PEN is one of the world’s oldest human rights organisations, championing the freedom to write and read. They are the founding centre of PEN International, a worldwide writers’ association with 145 centres in more than 100 countries. With the support of their members – a community of readers, writers and activists – they protect freedom of expression whenever it is under attack, support writers facing persecution around the world, and celebrate contemporary international writing with literary prizes, grants, events, and their online magazine PEN Transmissions.