The Orwell Festival 2023

In the spirit of George Orwell’s fiction, non-fiction and journalism, the Orwell Foundation aims to celebrate honest and creative writing and reporting, uncover hidden lives, and confront uncomfortable truths. We take seriously Orwell’s injunction that if ‘Liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.’

The Orwell Festival aims to be a space for difficult debate and diversity of opinion and viewpoints, encourage creativity and clarity of expression, provide a platform for unheard voices and defend the right to individual conscience, whilst remaining politically impartial.

There will be debates, panels and lectures with writers from different disciplines coming together to discuss a wide range of important themes and issues, inspired by Orwell’s own expansive interests. Concessionary tickets for students and those on low income are available for all events; as far as possible, events will also be streamed online and recorded.

SCHEDULE

6 June: The Orwell Festival Lecture with Gary Younge

8 June: Orwell and Empire 

9 June: Polly Toynbee in conversation - in association with Political Quarterly

11 June: Orwell's Hampstead

12 June: The Future of Housing

13 June: Orwell and Antisemitism

14 June: A Future without Homelessness

15 June: Politics and Drama: a conversation with Jesse Armstrong

17 June: Orwell's London

19 June: Orwell and Russia

20 June: The Future of the NHS

21 June: The Future of Public Service Broadcasting

UCL members get 1/3 off the price off standard tickets using the code BOXER at checkout.