Celebrating Émigré Contributions to British Culture
“The extraordinary generation of artists, writers and designers who found sanctuary in Britain from the Nazi regime brought ideas and skills and talent. But they also brought a breadth of possibilities: their practices crossed borders. There could not be a better time to celebrate them and to recognise what wealth we gain from those we welcome here.” Edmund de Waal OBE
Exiled Lit Café: Opening Lands
Poetry Café, London, 7 October, 7pm
An evening of poetry, prose, discussion and creative partnerships. A chance to hear excerpts from three upcoming books with Ziba Karbassi reading from Lemon Sun, Marta Dziurosz reading from Renia’s Diary and Stephen Duncan reading from Beata Duncan’s Breaking Glass.
Further to the recent launch of the Towards an Open Land project, a series of workshops in London and the road that invite writers from Muslim and Jewish backgrounds to explore identity and creativity in an era of increasing Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism, this event will also be a chance to hear the results of the first round of collaborations with Shamim Azad, Jennifer Langer, Hasan Khaya, Anba Jawi, Justin Hoffman and Mark Collins.
Living with the Wire: Guided Walks
Manx Museum, Isle of Man 11 October 2019, 10.30am and 2pm
As part of the Isle of Man’s annual Heritage Open Day weekends, join Manx National Heritage Curator Yvonne Cresswell on a series of walking tours exploring the major role that the Isle of Man played in the civilian internment of so-called ‘Enemy Aliens’ during the Second World War. The guided walks will provide an opportunity to discover where the various internment camps were created out of the Island’s tourist accommodation of hotels and boarding houses along Douglas promenade and around Onchan.
East West Street: A Song of Good and Evil
London Literature Festival, Southbank Centre, London
21 October 2019, 7.30pm
A partly staged reading inspired by international human rights lawyer Philippe Sands’ award-winning bestseller about the Nuremberg trials.
The Escape Act – A Holocaust Memoir
Circusmash, Birmingham: 26 and 27 October, 8pm
The Lowry, Manchester: 29 October, 8pm
The Escape Act – A Holocaust Memoir is a one-woman theatre show incorporating circus and puppetry. It is based on the real life story of Irene Danner, a Jewish acrobat who survived the Holocaust hiding from the Nazis in a German circus. The show goes back and forth between past and present, between character and performer, and combines the historical events of Irene’s life with the experiences of the performer as a grandchild of Holocaust survivors.