MOBOTIX takes the spotlight at Orwell Festival…

Posted on December 14, 2011 by Gofblog

SourceSecurity.com reports on one of the highlights of the George Orwell Festival: the well-received presentation from CCTV expert Stephen Burley which argued that: “Next-generation CCTV technology is shaping our future for the better”, complete with a demonstration of a cutting-edge MOBOTIX CCTV system.

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“They’ve turned Occupy London into ‘Animal Farm’…”

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Gofblog

According to a report in today’s Daily Mail, the Occupy London camp in the London’s financial district is “having trouble controlling its own financial affairs”: “This week some demonstrators were accused of becoming ‘elitist’ with too much power over the group amid accusations of the misuse of funds,” claims the report. “Some were said to regard themselves as ‘more equal than others’ and have been compared to the ruling elite satirised in George Orwell’s famous ‘Animal Farm’. Read the full story here.

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‘Hacking away at the truth’

Posted on November 11, 2011 by Gofblog

“I wouldn’t have become a journalist were it not for George Orwell…”
Read the full text of Guardian Editor Alan Rusbridger’s Orwell Lecture 2011 – organised by Organised by the Orwell Trust and Birkbeck College, University of London – which he delivered yesterday evening…

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Murakami tells a great story in Orwellian ‘IQ84’

Posted on October 22, 2011 by Gofblog

“During the past few weeks, I’ve spent somewhere between 50 and 70 hours lost in the world of 1Q84, the much-anticipated Haruki Murakami novel paying homage to George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four…
Sorry, but I can’t be more precise.”

- Mike Fischer, writing in the Journal Sentinel online. Read on at http://www.jsonline.com/entertainment/arts/murakami-tells-a-great-story-in-orwellian-iq84-132346973.html

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After Orwell – poetry id poems from the Festival online

Posted on October 19, 2011 by Gofblog

Poems from After Orwell, the event and the book of poems by poetry id, are now available in the book of that name and a selection of poems from the collection will be made available online here - the poems presented will change from time to time so keep the page bookmarked.

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View John Bird’s Festival opening address online

Posted on September 26, 2011 by Gofblog

Big Issue Films is presenting highlights of its founder John Bird’s address at the opening of the George Orwell Festival on 9 September. Don’t miss this opportunity to catch John’s frank and sometimes controversial account of how Orwell’s work informed his view of life, politics and social oppression.

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‘The enduring myth of George Orwell’

Posted on September 22, 2011 by Gofblog

Review on Salon.com of John Rodden’s new book The Unexamined Orwell which examines the legendary status the Nineteen Eighty-Four author has achieved since his death…

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Hitchens makes ‘an Orwell pilgrimage’…

Posted on September 19, 2011 by Gofblog

Daily Mail journalist and commentator Peter Hitchens – star panellist of the George Orwell Festival Debate ‘What would Orwell write about today?’ that took place in Letchworth in front of a capacity audience last Friday evening – has blogged about  his impressions of the event, and recalls some of the key themes that emerged in this lively and sometimes contentious discussion. He is pictured below (far left) with fellow panellists Corinna Ferguson (barrister and legal officer at Liberty), chair Rabinder Singh (liberties lawyer), Vitali Vitaliev (author and broadcaster), and Gordon Bowker (Orwell biographer).

 

 

 

 

Photo courtesy of Paul Louis Archer photography.

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‘Last Man in Europe’ brings triumphal Festival week to moving close

Posted on September 19, 2011 by Gofblog

Michael McEvoy’s one-man play about George Orwell ‘The Last Man in Europe’, presented in St Mary church, Wallington (where Orwell himself was married) was a moving conclusion to the 2011 Festival. Our gratitude and best wishes to everyone who attended the two performances as audience or helpers, and who contributed to the success of the event. Thanks also to the Wallington community for its support both yesterday and throughout the Festival.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo courtesy of Simon Maddison. A set of Simon’s photos showing six other events from the Festival can be seen at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/9967535@N04/sets/72157627705118744/with/6162400771/

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‘Orwell was one of my biggest inspirations’ reveals John Bird at Festival opening

Posted on September 10, 2011 by Gofblog

The George Orwell Festival 2011 was launched yesterday evening with sound and fury by John Bird MBE, respected editor and founder of the international street newspaper The Big Issue. In his opening keynote address at David’s Bookshop, Letchworth, Bird spoke passionately of how big an influence Orwell’s writings – especially his investigative reportage in Down and Out in Paris and London – had been in developing his realisation that societal problems should never be taken at face value, and of how spirals into poverty can be averted by simple common-sense actions.  Following his speech John fielded questions during a lively Q&A with the audience. Our thanks and appreciation to him for getting the Festival off to such a great start.

 

 

 

 

 

Photo courtesy of Paul Louis Archer Photography

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