Wednesday 28 May 2025 @ 18:30
£12 / £8 (Friends go free)
University College London
“The past was alterable. The past never had been altered. Oceania was at war with Eastasia. Oceania had always been at war with Eastasia.” Nineteen Eighty-Four
The People’s Republic of China is a rare example of a “Big Brother” state where Orwell’s work is not only available, but widely read and discussed. At the same time, dystopian fiction—from Nineteen Eighty-Four to The Hunger Games—continues to inspire protest movements like the Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong.
What does Orwell mean in a Chinese context today? How do writers, activists, and politicians interpret his legacy in an age of surveillance, censorship, and global influence?
Join us for a timely conversation with our expert panel, Isabel Hilton, Founder of the China Dialogue Trust and Jeff Wasserstrom, author of Vigil: The Struggle for Hong Kong and The Milk Tea Alliance: Inside Asia’s Struggle Against Autocracy and Beijing, chaired by Cindy Yu, incoming contributing editor at The Times and The Sunday Times.
Book event