Writing and Justice - Claudia Rankine and Philippe Sands
Channel: British Library
Date: 2021-01-13

Writers Claudia Rankine and Philippe Sands meet Fatima Bhutto to explore the complex relationship between writing, truth and justice, in a transatlantic conversation on why literature matters now more than ever.

Claudia Rankine is a poet, essayist and playwright. Her acclaimed new book Just Us: An American Conversation encourages discussions that might open pathways through this divisive moment in history. A MacArthur Fellow and a former chancellor of the Academy of American Poets, she teaches at Yale University. In 2005, she was awarded the Academy Fellowship for distinguished poetic achievement by the Academy of American Poets.

Philippe Sands QC is Professor of Law at University College London and a practising barrister at Matrix Chambers. The Ratline was published in April 2020. Philippe is President of English PEN and a member of the Board of the Hay Festival.

Fatima Bhutto was born in Kabul, Afghanistan and grew up between Syria and Pakistan. She is the author of several books of fiction and nonfiction, including Songs of Blood and Sword, the story of her father’s life and assassination and most recently, the novel The Runaways and the non-fiction reportage on globalisation and pop culture, New Kings of the World.

This event is being hosted in partnership with the Royal Society of Literature as part of its RSL 200 series.