Lucy Popescu reviews books for the Independent and Independent on Sunday. She worked with the English Centre of PEN, the international association of writers, for over 20 years and was Director of its Writers in Prison Committee from 1991 to 2006. She co-edited the PEN anthology Another Sky (Profile Books). The Good Tourist, her book about human rights and ethical travel, was published by Arcadia Books.
Mexico is one of the most dangerous countries in the world to work as a journalist – since 2006, 67 journalists have been killed and 14 have disappeared in the country.
By Lucy Popescu | Notebook, Opinion | Thursday, 23 August 2012 at 2:00 am
Pussy Riot members Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Yekaterina Samutsevich and Maria Alyokhina join a long line of courageous women in Russia who, in recent years, have been imprisoned, threatened, intimidated and killed for speaking out against the authorities.
By Lucy Popescu | The Foreign Desk | Monday, 20 August 2012 at 2:46 pm
This week members of the Free Zargana Campaign meet the Burmese comedian and performance poet at the Free Word Centre in London. The consortium of human rights and freedom of expression advocates, including PEN, Index on Censorship and Article 19, had campaigned for the Zargana’s release since 2008 when he was imprisoned on a series of trumped-up charges following his outspoken criticism of the government’s response to Cyclone Nargis.
By Lucy Popescu | Arts, Notebook | Tuesday, 5 June 2012 at 11:05 am
On 26 May 2012, Azerbaijan’s capital city, Baku, will host the Eurovision Song Contest. Few of the international contestants are probably aware of Azerbaijan’s appalling human rights record, particularly in regard to free expression.
By Lucy Popescu | Notebook, Opinion | Thursday, 24 May 2012 at 4:02 am
Last week, the Frontline Club hosted its second debate to discuss the impact of two documentaries Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields and a follow up aired this March called Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields: War Crimes Unpunished. Callum Macrae’s extraordinary films, presented by Jon Snow, provided compelling new evidence of executions, the shelling of civilians and other atrocities in the final months of the 26-year civil war in Sri Lanka that reportedly left up to 40,000 civilians dead.
By Lucy Popescu | Notebook, Opinion | Monday, 21 May 2012 at 10:33 am
Vladimir Putin recently claimed that democracy is the fundamental right of the people to elect their government as well as to continuously influence it and the decision-making process. Yet the recent detention of three members of an all-female punk band for a protest performance suggests that state censorship and violations against free expression remain as strong as ever in Russia.
By Lucy Popescu | Notebook, Opinion | Tuesday, 8 May 2012 at 4:00 am
Emerging Directors need nurturing as much as actors and writers in order to make challenging and innovative theatre and yet the only way that they can develop their craft is through mounting productions – which is inevitably costly. Currently, there are few opportunities for theatre directors who lack the necessary exposure and funds to produce their work in a decent-sized venue.
By Lucy Popescu | Arts | Friday, 2 December 2011 at 1:07 pm
Popular with cyclists, hikers and wine lovers, the tiny town of Spitz, in Austria’s picturesque wine-growing region of Wachau, has also become the regular host of a lively international writers and publishers’ conference.
By Lucy Popescu | Arts | Monday, 3 October 2011 at 1:14 pm
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