'In 1957, Albert Camus wrote, "it is always possible to record the social conversation that takes place on the benches of the amphitheatre while the lion is crunching the victim." George Orwell’s 1940 essay Inside the Whale raises important questions about a writer’s sense of obligation towards issues of the day, social justice and political commitment. Do such duties compromise that absolute freedom necessary to all good art? Or is such freedom a form of privileged and selective blindness? Perhaps this circle can never be squared. Camus and Orwell demonstrated that it can.'

Ian McEwan’s works have earned him worldwide critical acclaim, and we were delighted that he could give the Orwell Memorial Lecture on 26 November 2021 on the topic 'Politics and the Imagination: Reflections on Orwell's Inside the Whale'. The Orwell Memorial Lecture, given in memory of the author, essayist and journalist George Orwell, has been given annually since 1989 and has attracted notable speakers including Dr Tristram Hunt, Daniel Finkelstein, Kamila Shamsie, Dr Rowan Williams, Dame Hilary Mantel, Robin Cook and Ruth Davidson MSP. Speakers are tasked with discussing any topic 'Orwell might have been interested in'.

Originally held at the University of London, Birkbeck and the the University of Sheffield, the Orwell Memorial Lecture usually takes place each year at University College London, home of the UNESCOregistered Orwell Archive, the most comprehensive body of research material relating to the author's life anywhere. The Orwell Foundation is based at UCL's Institute of Advanced Studies. This year, however, the Orwell Memorial Lecture is being held at Conway Hall for the first time.

The Orwell Foundation is an independent charity which exists to continue the legacy of George Orwell, our goal is to make that legacy accessible to everyone. The lecture is free to attend, but if you can please donate to help our work in celebrating honest writing and reporting, uncovering hidden lives and confronting uncomfortable truths – and, in doing so, to promote Orwell’s values of integrity, decency and fidelity to truth. Your donation will help cover the cost of running the Orwell Lecture and it will support the Orwell Youth Prize. Donations will help support the Orwell Youth Prize through workshops, recourses, and direct feedback, a unique writing and gaming prize that helps young people from across the UK to engage with Orwell’s work and think critically and creatively about the society they are a part of. You will hear some of our Youth Fellows responding to the Lecture.

https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the...