An Evening with John Ralston Saul A talk on freedom of expression, Myanmar, the role of PEN International in Asia, China and free speech and more

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7pm, Monday 24 May, 2014
Members: Free; Non-members: 350 THB

John Ralston Saul is an extraordinary writer, public intellectual and literary activist. A long-time champion of freedom of expression. He is the International President of PEN International, the worldwide literature and free expression organization with 144 PEN Centres in over 100 countries. His works have been translated into 23 languages in 30 countries, are widely taught in universities and central to the debate over contemporary society in many countries. They include the philosophical trilogy: Voltaire's Bastards and the Dictatorship of Reason in the West, The Doubter's Companion, The Unconscious Civilization, and its conclusion, On Equilibrium. In The Collapse of Globalism (2005) he predicted today's economic crisis. In the autumn of 2012, he published his first novel in 15 years, Dark Diversions: A Traveller's Tale, a picaresque novel about the life of modern nouveaux riches.

His awards include South Korea's Manhae Grand Prize for Literature, the Pablo Neruda Medal, Canada's Governor General's Literary Award for Non-Fiction, the inaugural Gutenberg Galaxy Award for Literature, Italy's Premio Letterario Internazionale. He is a Companion of the Order of Canada and a Chevalier in the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France. He is the recipient of 17 honorary degrees. In the autumn of 2013, Saul was appointed Distinguished Visiting Professor at Ryerson University's Faculty of Arts in Toronto.

He arrives in Bangkok after spending several days in Burma/Myanmar where Dr Saul met Aung San Suu Kyi and visited the new PEN Myanmar Centre where he discussed ways to further support freedom of expression and literature in the country.

In a wide-ranging talk before the FCCT audience, Dr Saul plans to talk about freedom of expression, the current situation in Myanmar, the role of PEN International in Asia, China and free speech, the return of violence against journalists and the role of social media in political change.


Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand
Penthouse, Maneeya Center Building
518/5 Ploenchit Road (connected to the BTS Skytrain Chitlom station)
Patumwan, Bangkok 10330