The Orwell Memorial Lecture is given annually in memory of the author, essayist, and journalist George Orwell and has attracted notable speakers over the years including Ian McEwan, Dame Hilary Mantel, Kamila Shamsie and Bill Browder.

Speakers are tasked with discussing ‘any topic Orwell might have been interested in’. This year’s lecture takes place at the Southbank Centre for the first time since the lecture was established in 1989.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is a project manager at Thomson Reuters Foundation and has previously worked for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and WHO in Iran.

She was detained in Iran in April 2016 and was held hostage for six years. Many people campaigned for her during her incarceration, leading to her release in March 2022.

The Orwell Foundation uses the work of George Orwell to shine a light on brave writing, uncovering hidden lives and uncomfortable truths. The lecture is generously sponsored by Richard Blair, George Orwell’s son and Founding Patron of The Orwell Foundation.