Author Archives: Robert

Radio Interviews

Posted on 23 April 2012 by Robert

A welcome side-effect of the new English PEN website is an increase in inquiries from journalists. There have been a couple of free speech moments in the past couple of weeks – Günter Grass, and China at the London Book … Continue reading →

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Günter Grass and the Free Speech Moment

Posted on 21 April 2012 by Robert

Last week I wrote a follow up to my Comment Is Free piece on Gunter Grass, this time for the New Statesman blog. Over the past few days, a “free speech moment” has been unfolding. These are the controversies where … Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Great Banner Wall of China

Posted on 20 April 2012 by Robert

This week English PEN has been at the London Book Fair. China was the ‘Market Focus’ country and as such, there were a lot of Chinese state-run stands at the fair. I joined with activists from the Tibet Society and … Continue reading →

Posted in China, Human Rights | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Filmic and Literary Activism

Posted on 17 April 2012 by Robert

Its the London Book Fair this week, and China is the controversial ‘market focus’ country. To mark this, English PEN staged a day-long forum on Chinese literature and invited artists both from inside China and in exile. One of the … Continue reading →

Posted in China | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Comments on Comment is Free: Gunter Grass

Posted on 11 April 2012 by Robert

When I do a post for Comment is Free, I like to do a round-up here of pertinent and impertinent comments that appear below it. My piece on Gunter Grass pulled in 298 comments, which is a record for me, … Continue reading →

Posted in Comment is Free, Free Expression, Israel and Palestine | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Hit Günter Grass with Poetry, Not a Travel Ban

Posted on 11 April 2012 by Robert

If Grass has written a polemical poem, the Israeli literary community should respond with poetry of their own, parodying and picking apart Grass’s offering. Continue reading →

Posted in Debate, Free Expression, Israel and Palestine | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Günter Grass and BBC World Have Your Say

Posted on 10 April 2012 by Robert

Last week, the Nobel Laureate Günter Grass, probably Germany’s most famous living author, published a poem (German original here) criticising Israel and its contemplation of a pre-emptive strike on Iran’s nuclear programme.  This (predicably) caused controversy: Grass was a conscript … Continue reading →

Posted in Debate, Free Expression, Literature | 3 Comments

Sign the Petition Against Dow at the Olympics

Posted on 28 March 2012 by Robert

I know that politicians and people in power can be notoriously out of touch with reality, and we’ve seem some spectacularly tone deaf policies from the Chancellor of the Exchequer recently… but the Dow Chemicals sponsorship of the London Olympics … Continue reading →

Posted in Globalisation, India, London | 6 Comments

Lord Singh joins the wrong side on gay marriage

Posted on 20 March 2012 by Robert

More on the issue of gay marriage. Continue reading →

Posted in Religion | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

The Worrying Censorship of Expression on Social Media

Posted on 19 March 2012 by Robert

A quick aide memoir for the future: Examples of people being arrested or convicted for stuff they wrote on social networks. 1. Paul Chambers: Crap! Robin Hood airport is closed. You’ve got a week and a bit to get your … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Rights, Internet Philosophy | Leave a comment