Beyond Faith and Reason

When cultures meet across religions is it possible to find a place for understanding our different faiths and reasons?

The opening event of Free the Word! gives space for conversation and debate about what makes our world such a rich and varied place of opposites.

With Nobel Laureate Nadine Gordimer, novelist, historian and political campaigner Tariq Ali, Palestinian writer and co-author of Gaza Blues Samir El-youssef and 2008 Commonwealth Prize winner for Best First Book, Tahmima Anam from Bangladesh.

All the writers will read from their own work and discuss their experiences of their own cultures; meeting places of religion and state, where belief and the law are intertwined.

This event is chaired by Boyd Tonkin, Literary Editor of