The Orwell Lecture 2025: Steven Pinker
27 October 2025
We are delighted to announce that this year’s Orwell Lecture, set up to shine a light on brave writing, will be delivered by Steven Pinker, best-selling author and experimental cognitive psychologist. This annual event celebrates the enduring legacy o… find out more
The Orwell Festival: Orwell’s World?
17 April 2025
ORWELL’S WORLD? 27 May - 25 June BLOOMSBURY, LONDON www.orwellfestival.co.uk “WE ARE ALL LIVING IN ORWELL’S WORLD NOW.” The New York Times Is Orwell’s vision our reality? The Orwell Festival is returning to Lond… find out more
Benefit of Clergy: Helen Lewis and Nathan Waddell
29 May 2025
Art, morality and the "genius myth"... "The important thing is not to denounce him as a cad who ought to be horsewhipped, or to defend him as a genius who ought not to be questioned, but to find out why he exhibits that particular set of aberrations." Ge… find out more
Mishal Husain & Simon Parkin in conversation with Thangam Debbonaire
29 May 2025
The lives of Mishal Husain’s grandparents changed forever in 1947, as the new nation states of India and Pakistan were born. For years she had a partial story made up of memories and anecdotes. Decades later, the fragment of an old sari sent Mishal on a… find out more
Natasha Brown & Gabriel Gatehouse
29 May 2025
Join us at Waterstones Gower Street for an evening celebrating some of this year's Orwell Prize finalists. This event will bring together authors shortlisted for this year’s Orwell Prize for Political Fiction and Orwell Prize for Political Writing to re… find out more
Orwell Prize Masterclass with Peter Apps
29 May 2025
In this Arvon Masterclass Peter Apps, author of the Orwell Prize-winning Show Me The Bodies, will discuss the techniques of approaching subjects for interview, getting the most out of the interview itself, and what comes next, and will cover the most pres… find out more
The Politics of Football
29 May 2025
“Football, beer and above all, gambling filled up the horizon of their minds. To keep them in control was not difficult." Nineteen Eighty-Four Football punctuates the life of millions of people in the UK, while the Premier League is watched and loved… find out more
Towards a Renewed European Unity?
29 May 2025
In his 1947 essay Toward European Unity, George Orwell proposed that a democratic socialist United States of Europe was the best hope for the continent if it was to resist the dominance of the world's nuclear powers: the USA to the West and the Soviet Un… find out more
Can we all belong? The PQ Conversation
29 May 2025
With immigration yet again a defining issue in British politics, is it still possible to tell a national story that speaks across political and ideological divides? In a UK that’s increasingly diverse, can we find common ground — or are we destined to… find out more
Orwell and China
16 May 2025
“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 Orwe… find out more
Orwell’s Final Warning
18 December 2024
The moral to be drawn from this dangerous nightmare situation is a simple one: Don’t let it happen. It depends on you. What was Orwell’s final warning? On the 75th anniversary of George Orwell’s death, join D. J. Taylor, Sandra Newman and Jeffre… find out more
The Orwell Lecture 2024: Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe
16 October 2024
British-Iranian author Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe delivers this year’s Orwell Memorial Lecture, set up to shine a light on brave writing. We are delighted to welcome Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe to give this year's lecture, which takes place at th… find out more
25th June: Orwell and his circle
24 May 2024
Orwell and his circle: Ariane Bankes and D. J. Taylor in conversation 6pm – 8pm, Tuesday 25th June Venue: Gustave Tuck Lecture Theatre, South Wing, Wilkins Building, University College London On the day of George Orwell’s birthday, join The Orwell … find out more
19th June: Orwell Prize shortlist readings
24 May 2024
Join us at Waterstones Gower Street, the largest bookshop in Europe, for an evening celebrating some of this year's Orwell Prize finalists. This event will bring together writers working in different forms from the shortlists for our prizes for Political … find out more
16th June: George Orwell’s London
24 May 2024
Led by experienced tour guide Michael King George Orwell spent a considerable period, especially in the 1940s, living and working in central London. On this walk, led by Michael King from the Orwell Society, which will last approximately three hours, we … find out more
15th June: George Orwell’s Hampstead
24 May 2024
Led by experienced tour guide Michael King Although he only lived in Hampstead for about 15 months in the mid-1930s, this was an important period in George Orwell’s life. On this walk, led by Michael King from the Orwell Society, we will see the plaq… find out more
12th June: The Political Quarterly Conversation
24 May 2024
The Political Quarterly Conversation “Facing unpleasant facts”: What can the next government do about the economy? with Stephanie Flanders and Professor Michael Jacobs Chair: Gavin Kelly (Resolution Foundation) 7pm – 8.30pm, Wednesday 12th June … find out more
Reading and Misreading Orwell
18 December 2023
The Orwell Foundation and the Institute of Advanced Studies are delighted to welcome Dr Débora Tavares (University of São Paulo) and Dr Nathan Waddell (University of Birmingham) for two talks on 'reading and misreading' the work of George Orwell. Fre… find out more
The Orwell Lecture 2023
11 October 2023
Anti-corruption campaigner Bill Browder will deliver this year’s Orwell Memorial Lecture, In Front of Your Nose: Putin, Russia and What We Failed to See. The lecture, which is a public event, will take place on Wednesday 22nd November at University C… find out more
George Orwell’s Hampstead
24 May 2023
Led by Michael King, experienced tour guide and Orwell Society member Pond Street Gardens, 11.45am Although he only lived in Hampstead for about 15 months in the mid-1930s, this was an important period in George Orwell’s life. On this walk, led by M… find out more
