From the Guardian (last week, apologies for coming late to this):
Fighting for free speech
Is offence the new censorship? The launch of the Free Word Centre seeks to reopen the debate about freedom of expression
It’s entirely appropriate that the new Free Word Centre, which is launched tonight, is based in Farringdon Road. The area has associations with the written word that go back to the Middle Ages, and a long tradition of publishing, printing and radicalism. William Morris published the famous “Free Speech in the Streets” in his political broadsheet The Commonweal from 13 Farringdon Road. …
Free Word’s mission is to promote the power of the written and spoken word, and to protect creativity and free expression generally. What makes it different from the many literature houses all over Europe is that its core principle is free expression and literacy – which immediately makes its outlook international and political (not always seen as a palatable word in the arts). The ideas behind it were thrashed out by the eight founder members over five years. They are now resident in the building. Free Word is a venue, an office space, a thinking space, where media meets literature. In its theatre and meeting rooms you will hear familiar and unknown voices, the expected and the unexpected, debate and controversy. …