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Continuing our RSL 200 series, we host a truly global conversation between Claudia Rankine, Philippe Sands and Fatima Bhutto on why literature matters, now more than ever. In this timely event, presented in partnership with the British Library, Claudia Rankine, Philippe Sands and Fatima Bhutto explore the complex relationship between writing, truth and justice.

Fatima Bhutto was born in Kabul, Afghanistan and grew up between Syria and Pakistan. She is the author of several books of fiction and nonfiction, including Songs of Blood and Sword, the story of her father’s life and assassination and most recently, the novel The Runaways and the non-fiction reportage on globalisation and pop culture, New Kings of the World. 

Claudia Rankine is a poet, essayist and playwright. A MacArthur Fellow and a former chancellor of the Academy of American Poets, she teaches at Yale University. In 2005, she was awarded the Academy Fellowship for distinguished poetic achievement by the Academy of American Poets

Philippe Sands QC is Professor of Law at University College London and a practising barrister at Matrix Chambers. The Ratline was published in April 2020. Philippe is President of English PEN and a member of the Board of the Hay Festival.

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