lse space for thought literary festival 2015: foundations

Foundations

Monday 23 February – Saturday 28 February 2015

lse.ac.uk/spaceforthought

We are delighted to welcome you to LSE’s 7th Literary Festival in 2015, with the kind support of the LSE Institute of Public Affairs. With this year’s theme, Foundations, we are exploring the foundations of knowledge, society, identity and literature, as well as those of LSE itself in our 120th year. We are reflecting on some of the important anniversaries taking place this year (including those of Waterloo and the Magna Carta), whilst also celebrating an idea at the heart of LSE, encapsulated in our motto, “to understand the causes of things”. As in previous years, the Festival includes talks, panel discussions and film screenings, as well as creative writing workshops and children’s events.

We are proud to offer a space for thought, discussion and analysis that is unique in London, encouraging interaction between authors and academics on a global stage. We hope you enjoy this year’s events. Further details on all events, as well as any updates to the programme, can be found at lse.ac.uk/spaceforthought or by following @lsepublicevents #LSElitfest on Twitter.

Please do check the website to see the latest information about the events you wish to attend, as details may change.

Louise Gaskell Literary Festival Organiser

Media PartnerWe are delighted to be working in partnership with the Times Literary Supplement.

Ticket InformationAll events in the Festival are free to attend and open to all. E-tickets will be available to request after 10am on Tuesday 3 February. For the majority of Festival events there will also be an allocation of seats available on the day of the event, offered on a first come, first served basis. Full details can be found online at lse.ac.uk/spaceforthought

BooksalesIndependent bookseller Pages of Hackney is selling books for signing at the Literary Festival.

Look out for other events taking place at LSE, outside the Festival, which continue exploring our Festival’s theme.

Refreshments Café 54 is open throughout the Festival, located on the ground floor of the New Academic Building. A selection of sandwiches, hot and cold wraps, soup, pasta, fresh baked pastries and cookies, coffees and cold drinks are available.

Welcome

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ANNIVERSARY

Monday 23 February

1-2pm, NAB 2.04

LSE Spectrum Literary Festival lecture

A Little Gay HistorySpeaker: Professor Richard Parkinson Chair: Sue Donnelly

Richard Parkinson presents a ground-breaking LGBT history project by the British Museum, drawing on objects ranging from ancient Egyptian papyri to images by modern artists such as David Hockney and films such as James Ivory’s Maurice, to discuss how and why museums should represent same-sex experiences as integral parts of world culture.

Richard Parkinson is Professor of Egyptology at the University of Oxford and was previously a curator at the British Museum. He is a specialist in Ancient Egyptian poetry of the classic period. Sue Donnelly is LSE Archivist.

5-6.30pm, Wolfson Theatre

LSE Literary Festival lecture

Words in Time and PlaceSpeaker: David Crystal Chair: Professor Jennifer Richards

If you lived in 1800, which words existed in English to let you talk about money or the weather? Or 1600? Or at any time in the history of the language? If you are writing a historical novel or TV series, how do you know which words could have been used by your characters? Would Thomas in Downton Abbey have said “cheerio” in 1912? How to avoid anachronisms is just one of the questions answered by David Crystal after exploring the Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary in order to write his book Words in Time and Place.

David Crystal is known throughout the world as a writer, editor, lecturer, and broadcaster on language. He has published extensively on the history and development of English. Jennifer Richards is Professor of Early Modern Literature and Culture in the School of English at Newcastle University.

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7-8.30pm, Sheikh Zayed Theatre

LSE Literary Festival conversation

Language, Landscape and Identity in PalestineSpeaker: Raja Shehadeh Chair: Professor Craig Calhoun

Raja Shehadeh discusses his new book Language of War, Language of Peace: Palestine, Israel and the search for justice, exploring the politics of language and the language of politics in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as well as the changes that took place in the landscape of Palestine and the effect of land on the Palestinian identity.

Raja Shehadeh is a Palestinian lawyer and writer who lives in Ramallah, the West Bank. He is a founder of the human rights organization Al-Haq and an affiliate of the International Commission of Jurists. His acclaimed books include Strangers in the House, A Rift in Time, Occupation Diaries and Palestinian Walks, winner of the 2008 Orwell Prize. Craig Calhoun is the Director of LSE.


LSE Foundations Literary Festival discussion

Philanthropic Partnerships: innovation and social changeSpeakers: Dr Lee Elliot Major, Clare Woodcraft Chair: Sir Thomas Hughes-Hallett

LSE’s origins are rooted in philanthropy for change, with our foundation funded through Henry Hunt Hutchinson’s bequest made to the Fabian Society to create a place of learning focused on the betterment of wider society. This panel features some of LSE’s principal benefactors, who discuss the evolving culture of strategic and effective philanthropy, the responsibilities of trustees to deliver public impact, and the role that universities can play in that fulfilment.

Lee Elliot Major is Chief Executive of the Sutton Trust, and its former Director of Development and Policy. Claire Woodcraft is CEO of the Emirates Foundation. Thomas Hughes-Hallett is Chair of the Institute of Global Health Innovation, Imperial College London and Non-Executive Chair of Cause4.

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Raja Shehadeh

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Tuesday 24 February

5.15-6.45pm, Sheikh Zayed Theatre

Royal Society of Literature LSE Literary Festival Event

An Eye for LifeSpeakers: Marion Coutts, Ali Smith Chair: Maggie Fergusson

Ali Smith’s How to be Both, in which the lives of a 15th-century fresco painter and a 21st-century Cambridge schoolgirl mysteriously intertwine, was shortlisted for the 2014 Man Booker Prize, and won the £10,000 Goldsmiths Prize. Marion Coutts’s fierce, shocking and beautiful memoir, The Iceberg, tracing the two years between her husband’s diagnosis with and death from a brain tumour, was shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize. Meeting one another for the first time, they talk about how to look beneath the surface of life, how to weigh words, and how to reconcile grief and joy.

Marion Coutts is an artist and writer. Her work has been exhibited widely nationally and internationally, including solo shows at Foksal Gallery, Warsaw, Yorkshire Sculpture Park and The Wellcome Collection, London. Ali Smith is an award-winning writer, whose previous books include The Accidental, Girl Meets Boy and There But For The. Maggie Fergusson is Director of the Royal Society of Literature.

Marion Coutts

Ali Smith

Tuesday 24 February, 6-7.30pm Faith Centre, Saw Swee Hock Student Centre

Foundations of FaithSpeakers: Sarah Perry, Professor Graham Ward

A conversation exploring the role of religious belief in European life and literature. What relevance does belief have to contemporary cultural life? How important a foundation is faith to society today?

Sarah Perry’s first novel, After me Comes the Flood, was published by Serpent’s Tail in 2014 and was longlisted for the Guardian First Book Award and won the East Anglian Book of the Year. Graham Ward is Regius Professor of Divinity in the University of Oxford and author of Unbelievable: Why We Believe and Why We Don’t.

This event is free to attend and open to all, with entry on a first come first served basis.

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6.30-8pm, Wolfson Theatre

LSE Literary Festival lecture

The ‘School’: the LSE from the Webbs to the Third WaySpeaker: Professor Michael Cox Chair: Sue Donnelly

In 1895 the LSE was born with little to suggest that it would one day become one of the most influential and respected universities in the world. But how did the “School” come into being in the first place? What role did key figures like Sidney and Beatrice Webb play? What was their vision? Was it ever realized? And how did this relatively small, somewhat ill-housed, often poorly resourced, and frequently much-criticized institution that many saw as the enemy of the established order, come to play such a key role in British and global politics over the next century?

Michael Cox is Founding Co-Director of LSE IDEAS and Professor of International Relations at LSE. Sue Donnelly is LSE Archivist.


LSE Department of International Relations and Department of Anthropology Literary Festival discussion

The China DreamSpeakers: Professor William A Callahan, Chan Koonchung, Isabel Hilton Chair: Dr Hans Steinmüller

The ‘China Dream’ is the keyword of contemporary propaganda discourse in the People’s Republic. This panel discusses the immense variety of aspirations and dreams in contemporary Chinese society.

William A Callahan is a Professor of International Relations at LSE and author of China Dreams. Chan Koonchung is a Chinese writer and critic, whose works include the dystopian novel The Fat Years and The Unbearable Dreamworld of Champa the Driver. Isabel Hilton is a writer and broadcaster, and Founding Editor of Chinadialogue. Her publications include The Search for the Panchen Lama. Hans Steinmüller is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at LSE.

Chan Koonchung

Michael Cox

An Odd Adventure!Ever wanted to know where LSE first opened its doors, when International Relations arrived at LSE and who was LSE’S first black academic? Find out more about these and other questions in the history of LSE pop up exhibition which will be in the NAB during the Literary Festival.

Isabel Hilton

WednesdayEvents

Wednesday 25 February


LSE Department of International History Literary Festival discussion

Commemorating 1815: politics and the arts after WaterlooSpeakers: Dr Tim Hochstrasser, Dr Kirsten Schulze, Professor Alan Sked, Dr Paul Stock Chair: Dr Paul Keenan

In the bicentenary anniversary of Waterloo, a panel of LSE historians reflect on the legacy of Napoleon’s defeat. The panellists discuss the political and artistic aftermath of Waterloo as well as the consequences for European and global history.

Tim Hochstrasser, Kirsten Schulze, Alan Sked, Paul Stock and Paul Keenan are academics in the Department of International History at LSE.


PSSRU LSE Literary Festival discussion

Perceptions of Madness: understanding mental illness through art, literature and dramaSpeakers: Nathan Filer and others TBC Chair: Professor Martin Knapp

The panel explores how presentation of mental illness through art, literature and through televised dramas can affect public understanding of mental ill health with insights from research and personal experiences.

Nathan Filer is the award-winning author of The Shock of the Fall. He worked as a mental health nurse for many years and now lectures in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University. Martin Knapp is Director of PSSRU and a Professor of Social Policy at LSE.

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Remember to look online for updates to the programme or sign up to our newsletter lse.ac.uk/spaceforthought


LSE Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method Literary Festival discussion

Thought Stories: philosophy for a young audienceSpeakers: Professor Luc Bovens, Anne Fine, Peter Worley Chair: Emma Worley

Literature is a successful medium to introduce philosophy to school children. This panel features a children’s author whose books contain philosophical themes, a philosopher who has published extensively for the philosophy curriculum in schools, and a philosopher who is developing an ethics curriculum for schools based on short stories in world literature.

Luc Bovens is Head of the Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method at LSE. Anne Fine is one of Britain’s most distinguished writers for both adults and children. Former Children’s Laureate, in 2003 she was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and awarded an OBE. Peter Worely is Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of The Philosophy Foundation and President of SOPHIA, the European Foundation for the advancement of doing philosophy with children. Emma Worley is Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of The Philosophy Foundation.

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LSE Language Centre Literary Festival discussion

Origins, Translations and Adaptation Speakers: David Harsent, Jeremy Sams

Is a translation or adaptation bound always to be measured against the work on which it was founded, or can it take on an independent life of its own? The discussion reflects on the differing demands and opportunities presented by translation and adaptation.

David Harsent is a leading poet, whose collections include Fire Songs. As a librettist he has collaborated with a number of composers, most often Harrison Birtwistle. Jeremy Sams is a theatre director, lyricist and translator of opera libretti as well as a composer, orchestrator and musical director.


Forum for European Philosophy LSE Literary Festival lecture

The Soul of the Marionette: a short inquiry into human freedomSpeaker: Professor John Gray Chair: Dr Danielle Sands

John Gray draws together the religious, philosophic and fantastical traditions that question the very idea of human freedom. We flatter ourselves about the nature of free will and yet the most enormous forces - biological, physical, metaphysical- constrain our every action. Many writers and intellectuals have always understood this, but instead of embracing our condition we battle against it, with everyone from world conquerors to modern scientists dreaming of a ‘human dominion’ almost comically at odds with our true state.

John Gray is the author of a number of highly regarded books including False Dawn, Straw Dogs and most recently The Silence of Animals. He has taught at Oxford, Harvard, Yale and LSE. Danielle Sands is a Fellow at the Forum for European Philosophy.

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David Harsent

John Gray

Jeremy Sams

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Look online to see other exciting events taking place as part of the Festival Fringe across the LSE campus in the run up to and during the Festival week lse.ac.uk/spaceforthought

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LSE RESEARCH FESTIVAL 2015Join the public celebration of social science research

LSE Research Festival is a series of events, free and open to all, that celebrates social science research.

At its heart is a public exhibition on 21 May 2015 that will showcase posters, photographs and short films by researchers, many of whom will be present to discuss their work with visitors.

Find out more at lse.ac.uk/researchfestival

Follow us:

@LSEResearchFest lse.ac.uk/researchfestivalblog

14_1095 Events leaflet Research Festival ad V2.indd 1 09/01/2015 15:49

ThursdayEvents

Thursday 26 February

6.30-8pm, Thai Theatre

LSE Department of Social Policy Literary Festival conversation

Global Development and Modern FictionSpeaker: Zia Haider Rahman Chair: Professor David Lewis

Zia Haider Rahman, whose debut novel In The Light Of What We Know was described by the Guardian as “an exploration of the post-9/11 world that is both personal and political, epic and intensely moving”, talks to David Lewis about its themes, including identity, the workings of the global development industry and the place of Bangladesh in the world.

Born in rural Bangladesh, Zia Haider Rahman was educated at Balliol College, Oxford, and at Cambridge, Munich, and Yale Universities. He has worked as an investment banker on Wall Street and as an international human-rights lawyer. David Lewis is Professor of Social Policy and Development and Head of the Department of Social Policy at LSE. He is author of Bangladesh: Politics, Economy and Civil Society and co-editor of Popular Representations of Development: Insights from Novels, Films, Television, and Social Media.

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Thursday 26 February, 6.30-8.30pm Shaw Library, Old Building

LSE Language Centre and LSESU Drama Society present

Roots and FringePiers Plowright discusses how the experimental imperative of working with young British writers has been a consistent component in his career as a BBC journalist, adapter and producer.

LSE’s own thriving student drama scene has witnessed a recent burgeoning of new, original work. Laurence Vardaxoglou’s Buoy won the London University Drama Competition in 2013. Tonight Buoy is performed, together with a series of original and improvised dramatic sketches produced in collaboration with the LSESU Drama Society.

This event is free to attend with no ticket required. Entry on a first come, first served basis. For more information contact [email protected].

015

LSE RESEARCH FESTIVAL 2015Join the public celebration of social science research

LSE Research Festival is a series of events, free and open to all, that celebrates social science research.

At its heart is a public exhibition on 21 May 2015 that will showcase posters, photographs and short films by researchers, many of whom will be present to discuss their work with visitors.

Find out more at lse.ac.uk/researchfestival

Follow us:

@LSEResearchFest lse.ac.uk/researchfestivalblog

14_1095 Events leaflet Research Festival ad V2.indd 1 09/01/2015 15:49


LSE Department of Sociology Literary Festival discussion

“My Purse, My Person”: money and identitySpeakers: David Birch, Professor Nigel Dodd, Tom Hockenhull, Professor Nicky Marsh Chair: Izabella Kaminska

The panellists discuss changing attitudes towards money and the affect it can have, in its many different guises, on our identity.

David Birch is an internationally-recognised thought leader in digital money and digital identity and a Director of Consult Hyperion. Nigel Dodd is a Professor in the Sociology Department at the LSE and author of The Social Life of Money. Tom Hockenhull is a curator at the British Museum, responsible for the modern money collection and editor of Symbols of Power: Ten Coins that Changed the World. Nicky Marsh works in the English Department at the University of Southampton. Her works include Money, Finance, and Speculation in Contemporary British Fiction and she is co-curator of the exhibition Show Me the Money: the Image of Finance, 1700 to the Present. Izabella Kaminska is a reporter for FT Alphaville.


BBC World Service LSE Literary Festival event

The Forum: shaking up foundationsSpeakers: Professor Armand Leroi, Matt Parker, Will Self, Leslie Vinjamuri Chair: Bridget Kendall

BBC World Service’s flagship ideas programme The Forum returns to the LSE Literary Festival with an evening that attempts to shake the foundations of your thinking about science, the arts and society. Or at least make a few cracks in it.

Armand Leroi is Professor of Evolutionary Developmental Biology at Imperial College in London. Matt Parker is a stand-up mathematician and author of Things to Make and Do in the Fourth Dimension. Will Self, author of ten novels, five collections of shorter fiction, three novellas and five collections of non-fiction writing, is also a prolific journalist and frequent broadcaster. Leslie Vinjamuri is Co-Director of the Centre for the International Politics of Conflict, Rights and Justice at SOAS. Bridget Kendall is the BBC’s Diplomatic Correspondent.

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Friday 27 February


LSE European Institute Literary Festival discussion

High Culture and the Western Canon: has the fightback begun?Speakers: Professor Sarah Churchwell, Jonty Claypole, Maya Jaggi, Frederic Raphael Chair: Professor Maurice Fraser

With the BBC announcing a remake of Kenneth Clark’s TV series Civilisation and Melvyn Bragg’s weekly In Our Time entering its 17th year on BBC Radio 4, this panel asks whether the mission of Lord Reith ‘to educate, inform and entertain’ is alive and well. Has the era of dumbing down to widen access run its course? Why shouldn’t all schoolchildren be asked to grapple with the ‘difficult’ texts, rich canvases or musical scores of our western inheritance? Why shouldn’t everyone have the chance to join the ‘elite’?

Sarah Churchwell is Professor of American Literature and Public Understanding of the Humanities at UEA. Jonty Claypole is Director of Arts at the BBC. Maya Jaggi is an award-winning cultural journalist. Frederic Raphael is a screenwriter, biographer, nonfiction writer, novelist and journalist. Maurice Fraser is Head of the European Institute at LSE.


LSE Centre for the Study of Human Rights Literary Festival conversation

A Magna Carta for Humanity: homing in on human rights Speaker: Professor Francesca Klug Chair: Professor Conor Gearty

The Magna Carta, sealed in 1215, has come to stand for the rule of law, curbs on executive power and the freedom to enjoy basic liberties. When the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations in 1948, it was heralded as ‘a Magna Carta for all human kind’. Join us for an enlightening discussion, mapping the connections between the Magna Carta and Human Rights Act.

Francesca Klug is Professorial Research Fellow in the Centre for the Study of Human Rights and author of A Magna Carta for Humanity. Conor Gearty is Professor of Human Rights Law at LSE and Director of LSE’s Institute of Public Affairs.

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LSE Literary Festival discussion

Music and Poetry: common foundationsSpeakers: Ian Bostridge, Dr Armand D’Angour, Professor Fiona Sampson Chair: Richard Bronk

This discussion examines what these separate art forms have in common, and how successfully they complement one another in some of the greatest unions of music and poetry from Homer’s Iliad to Schubert’s Lieder and Britten’s War Requiem.

Ian Bostridge is a tenor, Humanitas Professor of Classical Music at the University of Oxford, and author of Schubert’s Winter Journey: Anatomy of an Obsession. Armand D’Angour is a Fellow in Classical Literature at Jesus College, Oxford who trained as a cellist and is working on a project to bring to life ancient Greek music. Fiona Sampson is a poet and Professor of Poetry at Roehampton. She trained as a violinist and is author of Music Lessons exploring the links between music and poetry. Richard Bronk is a Visiting Fellow at LSE and author of The Romantic Economist.


Frontline Club LSE Literary Festival film screening

Shorts Night: foundationsLSE Literary Festival is delighted to partner with Shorts at the Frontline Club, which showcases moving, striking and funny films, exploring the different faces of nonfiction filmmaking. Join us for an evening of short documentaries, from different parts of the world, covering the theme of place and identity, including Reber Dosky’s The Call, Mahdi Fleifel’s Xenos, Tuna Kaptan and Felicitas Sonvilla’s Two at the Border, Morgan Knibbe’s Shipwreck and Frederik Jan Depickere’s Adrift.

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LSE Research Festival 2015 – Short FilmsThroughout the week, the LSE Research Festival is screening short films submitted by student and staff researchers who were asked to convey their research through visual media. These films form a series providing an insight into the ways in which the moving image may be used as a tool to present research.

Screenings last approximately three to five minutes, and take place prior to Literary Festival events.

For more information on LSE Research Festival 2015 see lse.ac.uk/lseresearchfestival or follow us on Twitter @LSEResearchFest

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SaturdayEvents

Saturday 28 February

11am-12.30pm, Sheikh Zayed Theatre

LSE Department of Social Psychology 50th Anniversary Literary Festival discussion

Why Remember? Speakers: Lisa Appignanesi, Darian Leader, Owen Sheers Chair: Professor Sandra Jovchelovitch

This panel explores our relationship with our sometimes traumatic past, and asks why we should remember and what happens when we can’t remember. The discussion considers the importance of place and landscape in memory, as well as the nature of collective memory and memorialisation, particularly in the context of war.

Lisa Appignanesi is a writer, novelist and broadcaster. She is former Chair of the Freud Museum, London. Her works include the acclaimed family memoir Losing the Dead and most recently Trials of Passion. Darian Leader is psychoanalyst, a founder member of the Centre for Freudian Analysis and Research and President of The College of Psychoanalysts-UK. His books include Strictly Bipolar. Owen Sheers is a poet, author and playwright. His second novel I Saw A Man will be published by Faber in 2015. Sandra Jovchelovitch is a Professor in the Department of Social Psychology at LSE.

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Institute of Public Affairs

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11am-12.30pm, Wolfson Theatre

Forum for European Philosophy LSE Literary Festival discussion

The Human Age? Art and Identity in the AnthropoceneSpeakers: Gaia Vince, Dr Sarah Wood, Dr Kathryn Yusoff Chair: Dr Danielle Sands

The controversial designation “Anthropocene” names a geological epoch in which the planet has been irrevocably changed by human activity. In this panel, three thinkers consider the ways in which the Anthropocene requires us to reconsider both human self-identity and the human capacity for creation and destruction. Is art a narcissistic reflection of human concerns and desires or might it provide a model for dynamic and interactive responses to the global challenges which we face?

Gaia Vince is the author of Adventures in the Anthropocene. Sarah Wood is a Senior Lecturer in English and American Literature at the University of Kent. Kathryn Yusoff is a Senior Lecturer in Human Geography at Queen Mary, University of London. Danielle Sands is a Fellow at the Forum for European Philosophy.



Rerum Cognoscere Causas: understanding our classical foundationsSpeakers: Polly Findlay, Professor Barbara Graziosi, Tom Holland, Sir Peter Stothard Chair: Dr Llewelyn Morgan

This panel explores the Classical wellsprings of Western literature, reflecting on the continuing value and relevance of the Greco-Roman Classics today.

Polly Findlay is an award-winning Director whose credits include Antigone at the National Theatre. Barbara Graziosi is Professor of Classics and Director for Arts and Humanities at the Institute of Advanced Studies at Durham University. She has published widely on the culture of the ancient world including Inventing Homer and After Homer: The Resonance of Epic. Tom Holland is the award winning and bestselling author of Rubicon, Persian Fire and Millennium. His most recent work is In the Shadow of the Sword. Peter Stothard is Editor of the Times Literary Supplement and author of three volumes of diaries, Thirty Days, On the Spartacus Road and the award-winning Alexandria. Llewelyn Morgan is a Classicist and Fellow of Brasenose College, Oxford.

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Digital Personhood and IdentitySpeakers: Luke Dormehl, Aleks Krotoski, Professor Sonia Livingstone, Professor Andrew Murray Chair: Amy Mollett

What are the foundations of our identity in the digital age? As digital devices make and manage more and more decisions about our everyday lives how can we retain our sense of self? The panellists discuss how algorithms and intelligent devices are altering our sense of personhood and the ways in which we see ourselves and others.

Luke Dormehl is a technology journalist. His books include The Apple Revolution and most recently The Formula: how algorithms solve all our problems..and create more. Aleks Krotoski is an academic and journalist, author of Untangling the Web: What the Internet is Doing to You and presenter of BBC Radio 4’s The Digital Human. Sonia Livingstone is a Professor in the Department of Media and Communications at LSE. Andrew Murray is a Professor in Law at LSE. Amy Mollett is Editor of the LSE Review of Books.


Saw Swee Hock South East Asia Centre LSE Literary Festival discussion

Rebellion and Foundation: Southeast Asia, the UK and 50 years of developmentSpeakers: Ahmad Zakii Anwar, Nickson Fong, Yang-May Ooi

In 2015 ASEAN becomes an integrated economic community, marking five decades since the region’s formal independence from the West. What are the creative voices contending for the soul of a region where freedom, economic prosperity, civil society, and political maturity continue to evolve in unexpected ways? And what forces drive that spiritual and artistic development in the region?

Ahmad Zakii Anwar is a well-known Malaysian ‘urban realist’ artist. Nickson Fong is a Producer/Director and the CEO and Founder of Egg Story Studios. He won the Academy Award for Scientific and Technical Achievement Awards 2013. Yang-May Ooi is an award-winning TEDx speaker, bestselling author and story performer of Chiinese-Malaysian heritage.

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Department of Methodology LSE Literary Festival discussion

Communicating Chronic PainSpeakers: Dr Yasmin Gunaratnam, Dr Deborah Padfield, Jude Rosen Chair: Dr Elena Gonzalez-Polledo

Pain is notoriously hard to communicate to others. What kinds of communication best enable us to express and hear about pain? On what foundations can we build understanding? This session explores the capacities of stories, poems and photographs as forms of pain communication, and the possible relations between them.

Yasmin Gunaratnam is Senior Lecturer in the Sociology Department at Goldsmiths College, University of London. Her latest book is Death and the Migrant. Deborah Padfield is a visual artist. She is currently Research Associate at the Slade School of Fine Art, UCL and Artist in Residence at the Eastman Dental Hospital. Jude Rosen is a poet, translator and independent researcher. Her book of poems, A Small Gateway, was published by Hearing Eye in 2009. Elena Gonzalez-Polledo is Course Tutor in the Department of Methodology at LSE.



The Stones of Venice: foundations and futureSpeakers: Polly Coles, Liza Fior, Jonathan Keates Chair: Professor Richard Sennett

Venice has captivated artists and writers for hundreds of years, but in a city whose literal foundations are under threat from tourism, this discussion will asks what is the value of heritage, is it worth saving at any cost? And is there a future for Venice’s unique community away from the museums and palaces?

Polly Coles is a writer and broadcaster who spent several years living in Venice. Her book The Politics of Washing: Real Life in Venice is based on her experience of daily life in the city. Liza Fior is founding partner of muf architecture/art and a lecturer in Architecture at Central Saint Martins. Jonathan Keates is a prizewinning biographer and novelist, and Chairman of the Venice in Peril Fund. His books include The Siege of Venice and Handel: The Man and His Music. Richard Sennett is Director of Theatrum Mundi, University Professor of the Humanities at New York University and Professor of Sociology at LSE.

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Forum for European Philosophy LSE Literary Festival discussion

Is There Life in the Novel of Ideas?Speakers: Professor Peter Boxall, Jennie Erdal, Andrew O’Hagan Chair: Michael Caines

Is the ‘novel of ideas’ an outdated genre or are we witnessing its resurgence? What answers can it offer to 21st century questions? In this panel three speakers discuss examples of the ‘novel of ideas’ and assess the genre’s contemporary relevance.

Peter Boxall is Professor of English at the University of Sussex. Jennie Erdal is author of a memoir Ghosting: A Double Life, based on her years as a ghostwriter of a London publisher, and The Missing Shade of Blue, which was longlisted for the 2013 Commonwealth Book Prize. Andrew O’Hagan is one of his generation’s most exciting and most serious chroniclers of contemporary Britain. His books include Our Fathers, Be Near Me and forthcoming The Illuminations. Michael Caines is an editor at the Times Literary Supplement.



Changing WorldsSpeakers: Neel Mukherjee, Elif Shafak Chair: Bidisha

What are the foundations of society? Two award-winning writers look at the underpinnings of cultures and societies in their writings about the country of their origins, India and Turkey.

Neel Mukherjee’s first novel, A Life Apart when published in the UK, won the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain Award for Best Fiction. His second novel The Lives of Others was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2014. Elif Shafak is Turkey’s most-read woman writer. Her books, including The Bastard of Istanbul, The Forty Rules of Love, Honour and her nonfiction memoir Black Milk have been translated into more than forty languages. Her latest novel is The Architect’s Apprentice. Bidisha is a BBC TV and radio presenter, critic and novelist, author of Asylum and Exile: Hidden Voices of London and alumna of LSE.

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Andrew O’Hagan

Neel Mukherjee

Elif Shafak

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NERRI LSE Literary Festival discussion

Visions of Future Humans: science fiction and human enhancementSpeakers: Dr Caroline Edwards, Professor Adam Roberts, Anders Sandberg Chair: Imre Bard

A discussion on how the genre of science fiction has imagined and pre-figured ethical and social issues around human enhancement.

Caroline Edwards is a Lecturer in Modern and Contemporary Literature at Birkbeck, University of London and Director of the MA in Contemporary Literature and Culture. Adam Roberts is Professor of Nineteenth Century Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London and the author of twelve science fiction novels. Anders Sandberg is James Martin Research Fellow at the Future of Humanity Institute at the University of Oxford. Imre Bard is a PhD student in Social Research Methods at LSE, working on the Neuro-Enhancement: Responsible Research and Innovation (NERRI) project.

LSE Photo Prize and Ghosts of the PastThe pop-up photo prize exhibition will be open to the public to see across campus during the Literary Festival week. Photos on the theme of ‘Foundations’ by LSE staff and students will be displayed alongside an exhibition of ‘Ghosts of the Past’, images exploring the history of LSE’s campus. The winner will be announced at the Festival’s closing reception on Saturday 28 February.

For more information see lse.ac.uk/arts

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Tuesday 17 February, 6.30-8pm The Weston Café, 6th Floor, Saw Swee Hock Student Centre

LSESU: FoundationsThis event is the culmination of a competition run in honour of the festival, calling for submissions on the ‘Foundations’ theme in the context of students’ experience of LSE.

Presentations and performances from shortlisted students will be followed by a discussion on the foundations of the Student Union movement at LSE 117 years ago. The students will discuss the historic move to the Award Winning Saw Swee Hock Student Centre in 2014, which will play host to the event.

Complimentary food and refreshments will be provided. Please register for the event at bit.ly/litfestfoundations

SaturdayCreative Writing Workshops

10-11.15am, Alumni Theatre

Why Do You Write? And Can Knowing That Even Help? with Jonathan GibbsIn this workshop we will be looking at the impulse to write, when they are so many reasons and excuses not to, in the hope that exposing the foundations of the creative act can inform the writer’s practice in the here and now. But though in part we’ll be looking at our personal histories of writing, the exercises will be geared towards producing new work, with a deeper understanding of what our goals actually are.

Jonathan Gibbs’s novel, Randall, or The Painted Grape, about the London art world and the Young British Artists, is published by Galley Beggar Press. His short fiction has been published in Lighthouse, The Best British Short Stories 2014, The South Circular and The White Review. He studied Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, where he was awarded a Malcolm Bradbury memorial bursary, and has written on books for the Independent, the Daily Telegraph, the TLS and elsewhere. He writes the Independent’s weekly Friday Book Design Blog.

11.30am-12.45pm, Alumni Theatre

Just Get on With It with Shelley SilasFollowing the success of last year’s workshop, Shelley will be sharing her creative process and helping you find your own, whether for academic or other purposes. There are no formulas, all you need are passion, a good idea and to keep writing. The rest is up to you. Bring paper, pens, computers and questions.

Shelley Silas writes for radio, theatre, TV and has published several short stories. Her last radio play was on earlier this year, Comfort Girls, about the kidnapped Nigerian school girls, written for the BBC Radio Four strand, From Fact to Fiction, where plays are conceived, written, recorded and broadcast within five days. She is currently developing two TV series, and adapting Booker prize winning novel Heat and Dust for BBC Radio Four.

Jonathan Gibbs

Shelley Silas

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WIFI Wireless access is available for guests and visitors of LSE via ‘The Cloud’, also in use at many other locations across the UK. For more information see thecloud.net/free-wifi/join-the-cloud

SaturdayChildren’s Events

2.30-3.15pm, 1st Floor, New Academic Building

Poo at the Zoo StoryplaytimeJoin us for a fun, interactive event for under 5s and their grown-ups, celebrating this fabulous London Zoo/Bloomsbury book with songs, games and activities – and find out just what to expect when you help out with the smelliest job at the zoo! Discover one zoo resident’s most unpleasant habit as we play ‘What’s the time Mr Spider Monkey?’, then clean up at the end of the day under our bath parachute!

2-5 year olds

3.30-4.15pm, 1st Floor, New Academic Building

The Anansi Story Adventure SessionJoin us for a fun, interactive activity session for accompanied 5 – 8 year olds, using craft, games, activities and interactive storytelling to explore the ancient story of how Anansi brought stories to the world. Will Anansi be able to trick leopard, python, the fire hornets and the invisible pink fairy to win the golden casket of stories from the sky god Nyame? Come along and join in the adventure to find out.

5-8 year olds

These events are devised by So… what’s the story? and presented by professional storyteller Su Squire. For more information visit sowhatsthestory.co.uk/children

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Monday 9 March, 6-7.30pm

LSE Literary Festival and First Story prize-giving event

First Story: writing homeSpeakers: James Dawson, Kate Kingsley, Anthony McGowan Chair: William Fiennes

The culmination of the 2014 First Story National Writing Competition sees a panel of award-winning authors discussing the idea of home: Where is ‘home’ for them? How important are roots? And how does this influence their writing? The event will also include students reading pieces from the competition anthology.

James Dawson is author of dark teen thrillers Hollow Pike, Cruel Summer and Say Her Name. Kate Kingsley is the author of the Young, Loaded and Fabulous series. Anthony McGowan is the author of adult, YA and children’s novels including The Knife that Killed Me, Hellbent and Henry Tumor. William Fiennes is co-founder of First Story and an award-winning author of The Snow Geese.

This event is free to attend and open to all. Public tickets available online from Monday 2 March. School groups please contact [email protected]

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James Dawson

Kate Kingsley

Anthony McGowan

Hold your event at LSEFrom small meeting rooms for eight, through to the 1,000 seat Peacock Theatre, LSE offers a wide choice of centrally located conference facilities, available to hire for events, meetings, lectures and larger conferences.

For further details or enquiries please contact LSE Event Services, Tel: +44 (0)20 7955 7087, email: [email protected] or web: lse.ac.uk/lseeventservices

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Saw Swee Hock Student Centre

Shaw Library, Old Building

Disabled accessLSE aims to ensure that people have equal access to these public events.

If you have any access requirements, eg, relating to sensory impairments, please contact [email protected] in advance of the event you are planning to attend.

How to get thereUnderground Holborn (Central/Piccadilly) Temple (District/Circle)

Buses Buses that stop on or near the Aldwych are numbers: 1, 4, 6, 9, 11, 13, 15, 23, 26, 59, 68, x68, 76, 87, 91, 139, 168, 171, 172, 176, 188, 243, 341 and 521

Parking NCP, Parker Mews, Parker Street (off Drury Lane), London WC2B 5NT

Other than parking meters on Portugal Street, Sardinia Street, Sheffield Street and Lincoln’s Inn Fields there is no parking available near the School.

The London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street London WC2A 2AE

Link to maps lse.ac.uk/mapsAndDirections/

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Alumni Theatre, Sheikh Zayed Theatre, Thai Theatre and Wolfson Theatre, New Academic Building 54 Lincoln’s Inn Fields London WC2A 3LJ

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lse space for thought literary festival 2015: foundations

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