Taking place at Union Chapel on Tuesday 17 July, the evening will be a celebratory event to mark the centenary of Nelson Mandela’s birth. Esteemed guests from the worlds of literature, politics, journalism and activism will come together to perform readings of original letters written by Nelson Mandela during his time in prison, many of which have remained unpublished until now.
Produced and directed by the award-winning Josette Bushell-Mingo, the evening’s stellar line-up will include journalist Gary Younge, poet Jackie Kay, writer and campaigner Zoe Wicomb, Ted Hughes Award-winner Jay Bernard, actor Kwame Kwei-Armah, and composer Errollyn Wallen. The letters will also be published by Liveright on 10 July in a volume entitled The Prison Letters of Nelson Mandela. English PEN is thrilled that the book’s editor Sahm Venter and Nelson Mandela’s granddaughter, Zamaswazi Dlamini-Mandela, who provided the foreword to the book, will also be involved in the evening’s celebrations.
