Words In, Words Out: A Night in With Koestler Arts
Southbank CentreBelvedere Road, South Bank, London
Sat 24 Oct · 16:00 · £18
About this event
Hear the voices of writers inside the criminal justice system at an evening of discussions and readings from Koestler’s anthology by contemporary poets. A celebration of the power of literature, reading and writing in Britain’s criminal justice system. For over 60 years, Koestler Arts has worked to encourage artistic self-expression and creative talent in prisons, secure units, detention centres and young offender institutions. Koestler’s annual arts awards attract thousands of entries across more than 50 categories every year, from painting to ceramics, fashion design to poetry, and song lyrics to screenplays. The charity’s annual visual arts exhibition at the Southbank Centre has drawn curators and judges including Speech Debelle, Jeremy Deller, Sarah Lucas, Grayson Perry, Ai Weiwei and Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe. Join us to celebrate the launch of Koestler’s 2026 visual arts exhibition and to discuss the writing talent that’s to be found in secure settings. Hear from a panel of writers who work with people in the UK’s criminal justice system and campaigners who fight for civil liberties, rights and dignity on the inside. We also bring the voices of writers inside the system to the ‘outside’, to the front of the stage, with readings from Koestler’s poetry anthologies – written by people in secure settings and performed by contemporary poets. Presented in association with the Service95 Book Club.
