news and events

2023

  • STOP PRESS! My latest documentary for the World Service, the arts series In The Studio: Faig Ahmed (14th March 2023), focuses on one of Azerbaijan's most renowned contemporary artists. Listen here.
  • AND.... for Refugee Week June 2023 I wrote this essay, Changing Tides, for English PEN and Counterpoint Arts.

Thursday 19th Jan, London at Night conference. I'll be speaking on the opening panel of the Greater London Authority's two day conference about the night-time economy, convened by London's Night Czar Ame Lamé.

Thursday 19th Jan, CNN International, 12.20 ET/5.20 GMT I will be on with anchor Zain Asher discussing the UK nurses' strikes.

Saturday 21st Jan, Sky News, 6.45am - 9am Join us as we discuss the day's headlines on the breakfast show. If I'm a familiar face on Sky ....it's because I'm now in my 7th year!

Saturday 4th Feb, Sky News, 6.45am - 9am Join us as we discuss the day's headlines on the breakfast show. 

Thursday 9th Feb, BBC Radio 4, Front Row, 7.15pm. Join us as we review the new Peter Doig exhibition at The Courtauld and the latest novel by Salman Rushdie. 

Thursday 23rd Feb, publication of Collision: Stories from the Science of CERN (Comma Press). Delighted to have contributed an all-new story to this fiction anthology alongside Stephen Moffatt, Lucy Caldwell, Courttia Newland and many others. Details here. You can order from Amazon here

Thursday 2nd March, Bishopsgate Institute, 3.45pm. I will be chairing a panel at the Climate Crisis >> Art Action event about activism in art spaces, organised by the Whitechapel Gallery. Guests: Alison Tickell, Chris Garrard, Emma Brown.

Sunday 5th March, Kings Place for Jewish Book Week: 11am, chairing the Genesis Foundation Emerging Writers showcase; and at 8pm I am interviewing Amal Elsana Alh-Jooj.

Tuesday 7th March, Foyles Charing Cross Road, 7pm, I will be chairing Racheil Seiffert and Rosie Boyt at the launch of the Furies fiction anthology (Virago)

Tuesday 14th March, BBC World Service. My latest documentary for the arts series In The Studio: Faig Ahmed focuses on one of Azerbaijan's most renowned contemporary artists. Listen here.

Saturday 1st April, Loose Ends, BBC Radio 4, join me as I guest co-host the show, with main presenter Clive Anderson and guests Kathy Kiera Clarke, Nadine Shah, Gabby Best, Barnaby Jameson and Grace Savage. Listen here.

2019, 2020, 2021....


May 2021 update - the pandemic years (and 2019): Please find way below a fine array of public events I've done over the last few years. I was running around too much in 2019 to update the list, and during the pandemic it  felt too sad to list the panels, events and broadcasting stints that migrated online. In the meantime please check out my latest film series, AURORA, which I'm having a lot of fun with. 

2018

But first! My latest thing is an infomercial for IKEA (!) Watch it here. Normal service resumes below.

Saturday 6th JanuarySaturday 13th January, Sunday 21st January and Thursday 25th January, 2018,  Sky News, 6.30am, 7.30am, 8.40am. Paper reviews and political analysis.

Saturday 3rd February 2018, BBC Radio 4, 7.15pm. I will be on Saturday Review, presented by Tom Sutcliffe.

Monday 5th February 2018, Sky News, 6.30am, 7.30am, 8.40am. Paper reviews and political analysis.

Tuesday 6th February 2018, Zee TV, various times. I will be on the live half-hour current affairs discussion show The Insight.

Wednesday 7th February 2018, 7.30pm, Housmans Bookshop. I will be chairing an event with comedians Esther Manito and Yumna Mohamed to support the Saqi Books anthology Don't Panic. Details here.

Thursday 15th February 2018, 1-2pm, LUSH Summit, Old Billingsgate. I will be speaking on a panel about the media representation of refugees and asylum seekers in the Migration and Disaster space. General details here.

Thursday 15th February 2018, 7.30pm, JW3, London. I will be on the panel discussing and announcing the winner of the JQ Wingate Prize with fellow judges Toby Lichtig and Amanda Craig, chaired by Emily Kasriel.

Saturday 17th and Monday 19th February 2018, Sky News, 6.30am, 7.30am, 8.40am. Paper reviews and political analysis.

Monday 26th February 2018, Waterstones on Union Street, Bristol, part of Bristol Festival of Ideas. I will be chairing a Don't Panic event with writers and comedians Omar Hamdi, Esther Manito and Hassan Abdulrazak. Details here.

Saturday 3rd March 2018, 8pm, Mercury Theatre, Colchester, part of the Essex Book Festival. I will be chairing the Don't Panic comedy and discussion night with Esther Manito and Yumna Mohamed. Details here.

Sunday 4th March 2018, Kings Place, York Way, London, part of Jewish Book Week. I will be chairing Between the Lines - discussion and performances around literature and translation, with Ros Schwartz, Sophie Herxheimer and Cecile Menon. Details here.

Wednesday 7th March 2018, Royal Albert Hall Elgar Room, 9.15pm onwards. I will be performing some of my poetry and launching the London premier of my first film, An Impossible Poison, at the That's What She Said event alongside Lisa Luxx, Sabrina Mahfouz, Sophia Walke and Deanna Rodger. Details here.

Saturday 10th March 2018, Royal Academy of Art, 3pm. I will be chairing the Feminist Futures: Moving Image Practices event with artists Sutapa Biswas, Jessy Jetpacks and Zadie Xa. Details here.

Wednesday 14th March 2018, I'll be on Sky News talking about.... I can't remember. I'm writing this listing in August 2018.

Saturday 17th March 2018, Watershed, Bristol, Bristol Women's Literature Festival. I am chairing Women Writing Today with Louise Doughty, Meena Kandasamy, Jenny Landreth and Amy Sackville. Details here.

Wednesday 21st March 2018, Queen of Hoxton, 7.30-10.30pm. I am presenting Don't Panic, an event on literature and comedy, with comedians Esther Manito and Yumna Mohamed.

Saturday 24th March 2018, ICA. I am chairing Playback: Making It, Millennial Creatives and the Digital Revolution, showcasing a host of young film directors. Details here.

Sunday 25th March 2018, Sky News Sunrise paper reviews - catch us at 6.40am, 7.40am and 8.40am.

Wednesday 11th April 2018,  London Book Fair, 4.5pm. I am presenting a session on Baltic writers with Undine Radzevičiūtė, Nora Ikstena and Alys Conran. Details here.

Wednesday 18th April 2018, Tower of London, 7.30pm-9pm. I am performing poetry, alongside Bridget Minamore, Inua Ellams and Imogen Butler-Cole, inspired by the Tower of London and the theme of power. Details here.

Wednesday 15th April 2018, Albert Sloman Library, University of Essex, 7pm. I will be screening my film An Impossible Poison and doing a career and film Q+A. Details here.

Saturday 28th April 2018, Sky News Sunrise paper reviews - catch us at 6.40am, 7.40am and 8.40am.

Sunday 29th April 2018, British Library MFest festival. I will be presenting and chairing two sessions, on Forgotten Histories: Representations of Non Binary Identities and the Don't Panic comedy night.

Friday 4th May 2018, Tate Exchange, Tate Modern, 6.30pm. I launched my guest edited issue of Wasafiri Magazine, on refuge and asylum, with a showcase and discussion event for the writers Olumide Popoola, Lisa Luxx and Sophie Herxheimer. Details here.

Sunday 6th May 2018, Sky News Sunrise paper reviews - catch us at 6.40am, 7.40am and 8.40am.

Wednesday 30th May 2018, Blakcburne House, Liverpool. As part of Liverpool's Writing on the Wall festival I'm reading at the Fiction Trumps Trump event with Sim Bajwa and Zaher Omareen. Details here.

Sunday 3rd June 2018, Hay Festival. I am doing a 'How I Got Here' session on my own career at 1pm, chairing Kehinde Andrews at 2.30pm and at 4pm speaking on the Bad Men and the Brontes panel.

Saturday 9th June 2018, Sky News Sunrise paper reviews - catch us at 6.40am, 7.40am and 8.40am.

Thursday 14th June 2018, BFI, 6.20pm. I am speaking on a panel for refugee Week following the screening of the film The Foreigner's Home, about Toni Morrison's residency at The Louvre. Details here.

Saturday 16th June 2018, APT Gallery. As part of the Slatterns group exhibition and day-long Gaze symposium I am interviewing artists Sarah Pickford and Vera Iliatova and poet Isobel Dixon and screening my film An Impossible Poison. Details here.

Sunday 17th June 2018, Sky News Sunrise paper reviews - catch us at 6.40am, 7.40am and 8.40am.

Wednesday 20th June 2018, Starr Cinema, Tate Modern. I am chairing a discussion on art and inequality with Bonnie Greer, Andrea Phillips and Jacob V Joyce. Details here.

Sunday 24th June 2018 Sky News Sunrise paper reviews - catch us at 6.40am, 7.40am and 8.40am.

Saturday 30th June and Sunday 1st July 2018, Bradford Literature Festival. I am speaking on a panel about Mary Shelley and Frankenstein; chairing an event on slavery and trafficking called  It's Not A Free World; chairing Feminism Around the World with Gita Sahgal, Nimco Ali, Mona Eltahawy and Durre Shahwar; and chairing on The Plight of the Rohingya with Ellen Wiles and Deen Mohammed Noori.

Saturday 7th July 2018, Bradford Literature Festival. I will be chairing Akala at 10.30am.

Saturday 7th July 2018, All Saint's Church, Hertford. I will be chairing the Refugee Tales celebration and performance event with writers Roma Tearne and Hubert Moore and musicians Na-Mara. Details here. 

Sunday 8th July 2018, Purcell Room, Southbank Centre. I am chairing Anne Enright, Marlon James, Howard Jacobson and David Grossman on The Future of the Novel as part of the Man Booker 50 festival. Details here.

Saturday 14th July 2018, Sky News Sunrise paper reviews - catch us at 6.40am, 7.40am and 8.40am.

Saturday 28th July 2018, Sky News Sunrise paper reviews - catch us at 6.40am, 7.40am and 8.40am.

Monday 30th July 2018, Bronte Parsonage. I will be speaking at the 'Emily Speaks' event about Emily Bronte, alongside Hannah Lowe and Melanie Abrahams. Details here.

Tuesday 31st July 2018. I FILMED AN INFOMERCIAL FOR IKEA AND HERE IT IS!

Saturday 4th August 2018, Sky News Sunrise paper reviews - catch us at 6.40am, 7.40am and 8.40am.

Sunday 12th August 2018, Sky News Sunrise paper reviews - catch us at 6.40am, 7.40am and 8.40am.

Sunday 14th August 2018, Somerset House, 7pm. I am leading a Behind the Screen discussion about Daphne du Maurier's novel Rebecca and Hitchcock's film adaptation, with writers Jane Giles, Bethany Rutter and Sophie Monks Kaufman. Part of Film Four's Summer Screen season. Details here.

Sunday 2nd September 2018. Sky News Sunrise paper reviews - catch us at 6.40am, 7.40am and 8.40am.

Sunday 9th September 2018. Sky News Sunrise paper reviews - catch us at 6.40am and 7.40am.

Tuesday 18th September 2018, Southbank Centre. I will be onstage presenting - with Chris McCabe and William Sieghart - the 2018 Forward Prizes for Poetry. Details here.

Sunday 30th September - Wednesday 3rd October 2018. I will be at the Ilkley Literature Festival teaching writing workshops, chairing Shaun Usher, Ted Powell, Jeremy Poynting and Susheila Nasta at various events and speaking at the prize ceremony for the SI Leeds Prize for literature.

Friday 12th October 2018, 9.30pm, Watermans Art Centre, Brentford. I will be participating in the onstage, aftershow discussion following dancer Seeta Patel's performance of her solo piece Not Today's Yesterday.

Saturday 13th October 2018. Sky News Sunrise paper reviews - catch us at 6.40am and 7.40am. And then a Spread the Word workshop session at Woolwich Library on how to professionalise your writing, 1.45-3pm.

Sunday 14th October 2018, Barbican Centre. I will be speaking on a 12pm - 1pm panel about press freedom with Nichi Hodgson, Melanie Philips and journalists from Sky News and Spiked. Chaired by Oli Foster from Sky News. Part of the Battle of Ideas event.

Wednesday 17th October 2018, Salisbury Cathedral, 7.30. I am interviewing Val McDermid for the Salisbury Literature Festival. Details here. 

Sunday 21st October 2018, Victoria Museum and Gallery, Liverpool, 3.45pm. I will be appearing with poets Holly Corfield Carr and Deryn Rees-Jones, talking about poetry and performance and screening my first film An Impossible Poison. Details here.

Saturday 27th October 2018, Southbank Centre, 7.45pm. I am interviewing the activists Soraya Chelamy and Laura Bates on feminism and activism. Details here.

Saturday 28th October 2018, 6.30am-8.30am. Sky News Sunrise paper reviews.

Wednesday 31st October 2018, 4pm, BBC Radio 4, Thinking Allowed. Talking about race and identity. Details here.

Tuesday 6th November 2018, Redbridge Central Library, 6.30pm. I will be hosting an open mic night for new writers as part of my City of Stories residency. Details here.

Saturday 10th November 2018, 6.30am-8.30am. Sky News Sunrise paper reviews.

Saturday 10th November 2018, P21 Gallery, 4pm. I will be speaking on a panel about Palestine, performance and art. Details here.

Tuesday 13th November 2018, The Chaplaincy, Mile End Road. I will be interviewing writer Nikesh Shukla as part of Queen Mary's University Writers' Series. Details here.

Tuesday 15th, Sunday 18th and Monday 19th November 2018: Hosting open mic nights at Whitechapel Ideas Store, Victoria Library and Bexley Central Library as part of my City of Stories residency.

Tuesday 20th November 2018, Sheffield University. Gave a keynote talk about contemporary politics and feminism as the annual lecture for the women's network at the university.

Tuesday 20th November 2018, St Mary's Church, Todmorden. Spoke about the Brontes, writing and mental health with Clare Shaw and Michael Webster as part of the literary festival. Details here.

Saturday 24th November 2018, 6.30am-8.30am. Sky News Sunrise paper reviews.

Saturday 1st December 2018, Crimean House, Kiev. I will be interviewed about my work and about international human rights at this cultural event, and doing some follow-up TV interviews etc.

Thursday 6th December 2018, 1pm, Royal Society of the Arts. I will be participating in the 'year in review' panel on politics in 2018 with Huge Rifkind, Catherine Mayer and Matthew Taylor. Details here.

Friday 7th December 2018, 7.45pm, Southbank Centre, Purcell Room. I will be presenting and interviewing composers and the conductor of this evening of classical music premiers, entitled Sapiens, for the London Sinfonietta. Details here.

Saturday 15th December, Sunday 23rd December and Saturday 29th December 2018, 6.30am-8.30am. Sky News breakfast show paper reviews.







2017

Thursday 5th January 2017, 4.30pm, Sky News. I will be talking immigration and integration with an incredibly aggressive man who keeps trying to interrupt me.

Friday 27th January 2017, Bournemouth International Centre, 2pm-3pm. Speaking on a British Council panel about Brexit and arts funding at the Association of British Orchestras annual conference.

Tuesday 31st January 2017, 10.30pm - 12 midnight, Sky News. I'll be doing the paper reviews with Tom Newton Dunn. Presented by Anna Botting.

Wednesday 8th February 2017, 10.30pm - 12 midnight, Sky News. I'll be doing the paper reviews with Stig Abell. Presented by Anna Botting.

Saturday 4th March 2017, BBC Radio 4, 7.15pm. Saturday Review, where we'll be reviewing Gurinder Chadha's film The Viceroy, The Fatal Tree by Jake Arnott and much more.

Saturday 11th March 2017, Women of the World Festival, City Hall, Hull. 2.30pm. I will be speaking on a panel called In My Shoes, about international feminist activism. Details here.

Tuesday 14th March 2017, 11.30am, London Book Fair. I will be speaking at an event organised by the International Literature Showcase on India at 70: Language Barriers, Language Futures. Details here.

Wednesday 15th March 2017, Sky News, 6.30am, 7.30am and 8.40am. I will be doing the Sunrise press previews.

Thursday 16th March 2017, 2.15pm, London Book Fair. I will be announcing the writers selected as the New Voices From Europe in an event organised by Literature Across Frontiers. Details here.

Thursday 16th March 2017, 6.30pm, Spike Island, Bristol. I will be reading my poetry at a literary showcase, alongside writers Tania Hershman and Holly Corfield Carr. Details here.

Tuesday 21st March 2017, 3.30pm, QE2 Centre London, Bond Annual Conference on International development.  I am chairing a session on Forced Migration (details here).

Friday 24th March 2017, Sky News, 6.30am, 7.30am and 8.40am. I will be doing the Sunrise press previews.

Friday 7th April 2017, Waterstones Tottenham Court Road, 6.30pm onwards. I will be part of a panel celebrating the Baileys Women's Prize For Fiction, alongside Grace Dent, Elif Shafak, Sam Baker and Kate Mosse. Details here.

Wednesday 12th April 2017, Waterstones Piccadilly, 6.30pm onwards. I will be chairing the launch event of Saqi Books' anthology The Things I Would Tell You: British Muslim Women Write, featuring readings and author discussion. Details here - the event is sold out.

Saturday 22nd April 2017, Birmingham Literature Festival Spring Edition, 2pm. I will be chairing the launch of Dividing Lines, an anthology of stories written by winners of The Asian Writer Short Story Prize, with readings and discussion by the anthology authors. Details here.

Tuesday 2nd May 2017, Waterstones Piccadilly. I will be chairing an event on diversity in publishing with writers Anthony Anaxagorou, Irfan Master and Robyn Travis. Details here.

Wednesday 3rd May 2017, 4.30pm-5pm, Facebook Live. I will be interviewing the artistic director of the Shubbak Festival, Eckhard Thiemann, about this year's roster of events.

Friday 19th May 2017, Sky News, 6.30am, 7.30am and 8.40am. I will be doing the press previews on the Sunrise breakfast show.

Friday 19th May 2017, 3.30pm-5pm, ICA, London, I will be speaking on a panel about race and diversity in film at the 2017 Black Film, British Cinema conference. Details here.

Saturday 3rd June 2017, 7.15-8pm, Radio 4. I will be a guest on Saturday Review, reviewing the Wonder Woman film, the new Adam Thorpe novel, the Persuasion stage adaptation, a Lucienne Day exhibition and more.

Thursday 22nd June 2017, 6.30pm, British Academy. I wil be chairing a panel discussion on Seeking security in an age of turmoil: displaced academics and the UK with speakers from Oxford, Cambridge, UNHCR and the Council for At Risk Academics.

Thursday 29th June 2017, 7.30pm, Southbank Centre. I will be chairing a reading and discussion with the shortlisted writers for the Caine Prize for African Writing. Details here. 

Saturday 1st July and Sunday 2nd July 2017, Campbell Park, Milton Keynes: I will be interviewing the Syrian Kanun player Maya Youssef, The London Syrian Enseble, the Afro-Egyptian band Hawidro and a panel of local arts leaders for the Art in the Park Festival.

Friday 14th July 2017, Sky News, 6.30am, 7.30am, 8.40am. I will be reviewing the papers for the day.

Wednesday 26th July 2017, Hoxton square Bar & Kitchen, 8pm - 10pm. I'm compering a comedy night to launch Saqi Books' anthology Don't Panic I'm Islamic: Extreme Vetting Now. Details here.

Friday 28th July 2017, Sky News, 6.30am, 7.30am, 8.40am. I will be reviewing the papers for the day.

Friday 4th August 2017, Sky News, 6.30am, 7.30am, 8.40am. I will be reviewing the papers for the day.

Monday 7th August 2017, Sky News, 10.30pm and 11.30pm. I will be reviewing the papers for the following day.

Saturday 12th August 2017, Loose Ends, Radio 4, 6.15pm. I will be interviewed by Nikki Bedi about my writing work. Details here.

Sunday 13th August 2017, The Studio, Edinburgh, 3pm. As part of the Edinburgh International Festival I will be hosting an event about Syria, including film screenings, a performance by musician Maya Yousseff and an interview with theatre director Rafat Alzakout. Details here.

Tuesday 15th August 2017, Sky News, 10.30pm and 11.30pm. I will be reviewing the papers for the following day.

Friday 25th August 2017, Sky News, 6.30am, 7.30am and 8.30am. I will be reviewing the papers for the day.

Thursday 31st August 2017, Al Jazeera, 7.30pm. I will be talking about people's reactions to the death of Princess Diana (!) on London Newshour.

Friday 8th September 2017, Sky News, 6.30am, 7.30am and 8.30am. I will be reviewing the papers for the day.

Sunday 17th September 2017, JW3 venue, London, 8pm onwards. I will be compering and also reading at London Lit Live, a celebrating of London's writers featuring Sabrina Mahfouz, Stella Duffy, Nadifa Mohamed, Amaal Said and Sophie Herxheimer, with music from Ana Silvera and Maya Youssef. Details here.

Thursday 21st September 2017, New Art Exchange, Nottingham, 6.30pm. I will be chairing a discussion about artistic responses to Partition. Details here.

Wednesday 27th September 2017, Free Word Centre, London, 6.30pm. I will be reading at an event about censorship and banned books organised by Index on Censorship. Other speakers include David Aaronovitch and Lynn Gaspard. Details here.

Friday 29th September 2017, Royal Academy of Art, 6.30pm. I will be chairing an event on cultural appropriation, with speakers Ellen McBreen, Wessieling and Yinka Shonibare. Details here.

Monday 2nd October 2017, British Library, 2.15pm. I will be chairing an event on Translating Arabic with speakers Alice Guthrie, Ali Bader, Marcia Lynx Qualey and Wen Chin Ouyang. Details here.

Friday 6th October 2017, Sky News, 6.30am, 7.30am and 8.30am. I will be reviewing the papers for the day.

Saturday 7th October 2017, The Studio Theatre, Library of Birmingham, 3.30pm. I will be appearing on a panel about Asian Literature, alongside Bali Rai, Radhika Swarup and Mahtab Hussein as part of the Birmingham Literature Festival. Details here.

Saturday 7th October 2017, BBC Two, 7-7.30pm. I will be one of the guests on Front Row the TV version, alongside Kate Williams and Mark Shenton. We're reviewing King Lear and Blade runner 2049.

Monday 9th October 2017, St George's Church, Bloomsbury, 7pm. I will be interviewing the poet Anne Michaels in an event organised by the London Review of Books bookshop. Details here.

Saturday 14th October 2017, Southbank, London, 4.30 - 5.30pm. I will be chairing an event on poetry and refuge with the poets Vahni Capildeo and Athena Farrozkhad. Details here.

Thursday 19th October 2017, Sky News, 6.30am, 7.30am and 8.40am. I will be doing the press preview.

Friday 20th October 2017, Sky News, 10.30pm and 11.30pm. I will be doing the press preview.

Saturday 4th November 2017, Sky News, 6.30am, 7.30am and 8.40am. I will be doing the press preview.

Monday 13th November 2017, 10.30am, Royal Academy of Art Schools. I will be giving a talk about refugees' and asylum seekers' experiences.

Wednesday 15th November 2017, 6pm, The Library, Willesden Green. I will be hosting a writing workshop and reading session for local writers as part of my City of Stories writers' residency.

Friday 17th November 2017, Sky News, 6.30am, 7.30am and 8.40am. I will be doing the press preview.

Sunday 19th November 2017, Whitechapel Ideas Store. I will be presenting an evening of readings and comedy in association with Saqi Books as part of the Write Idea festival.

Saturday 16th December 2017, Sky News, 6.30am, 7.30am and 8.40am. I will be doing the press preview.

Tuesday 19th December 2017, Sky News, 10.30pm and 11.30pm. I will be doing the press preview.

Friday 22nd December 2017, Sky News, 6.30am, 7.30am and 8.40am. I will be doing the press preview.

Thursday 28th December 2017, Sky News, 10.30pm and 11.30pm. I will be doing the press preview.


2016

I didn't update this page during most of 2016. Some events from the end of 2016 are as follows and events from 2012-2015 are below that.



7th October and 14th October 2016, BBC Radio 4. A guest on Laurence Llewellyn Bowen's two-part documentary The Intimate Art of the Tattoo. Details here.

Saturday 8th October 2016, Southbank Centre,  Chairing a discussion about the Panama Papers with Guardian correspondent Aditya Chakrabortty and writer David Whyte. Details here.

Sunday 9th October 2016, Cheltenham Literary Festival. Speaking on a panel celebrating Alice Walker's novel The Color Purple, chaired by Nicolette Jones. Details here.

Friday 14th October 2016, BBC Radio 4. Guesting on A Good Read, presented by Harriett Gilbert, alongside Gillian Reynolds. I chose to talk about Jean Rhys's novel Wide Sargasso Sea. Details here.

Sunday 23rd October 2016, Channel 4 News, 6.30pm. Guest, talking about the UN's decision to appoint Wonder Woman as an ambassador.

Monday 24th October 2016, Sky News, 12.30pm. Guest, talking about refugees at the Calais 'jungle' camp.

Sunday 11th December 2016, Belgrade Debate on Europe: Our (Safe?) European Home? I will be delivering a lecture on the refugee crisis and participating in an evening panel discussion on Brexit, the refugee crisis, the rise of right wing populist nationalism and more. Details here.

Sunday 18th December 2016, Sky News, 6.30pm. I will be discussing the proposed oath to 'British values'.

Thursday 23rd December 2016, Channel 4 News, 7pm. I'll be one of the panel looking over the past year.

Wednesday 28th December 2016, Sky News. I'll be doing the evening paper review in two parts, at 10.30pm and 11.30pm, alongside fellow guest Olly Mann. 


2015

Wednesday 14th January 2015, 8.50am, BBC Radio 4 Today programme. Participating in a discussion about feminism (over the phone, not in-studio) with Professor Alison Wolf.

Saturday 17th January 2015, 8pm, BBC Radio 4. Transmission of my hour long radio documentary for BBC Radio 4's Archive Hour on complaining, It's called Mustn't Grumble: The Noble British Art of Complaining. Produced by Geoff Bird. Click here for details.

Saturday 17th January 2015, 8.50pm BBC TV World News. I will be discussing this year's virtually all white and all male Oscars nominations, pegged to my Guardian article about the issue.

Saturday 24th January 2015, 6.15pm, BBC Radio 4, repeated Monday 26th January at 11.15am and 9.15pm. I will be one of Clive Anderson's guests on Loose Ends, talking about my documentary about complaining. You can listen to Loose Ends here.

Tuesday 27th January 2015, 6.45pm, Asia House, London. Event previewing my 5th book, Asylum and Exile: The Hidden Voices of London, with Refugee Council CEO Maurice Wren, chaired by historian Rachel Holmes, author of Eleanor Marx: A Life. Details here.

Wednesday 28th January 2015, 7.30pm, Delicatessen Theatre, Farringdon Road. Following a performance of 12 new short plays by writers including Caryl Churchill, Mark Ravenhill and Neil LaBute I am chairing a panel discussion about art, censorship and freedom of discussion with Natalia Kaliada from the Belarus Free Theatre. Details here.

Sunday 1st February 2015, 1.15pm, TS Eliot Theatre, Merton College, Oxford. A screening of the film Lakshmi, about trafficking, followed by a panel discussion chaired by me, to raise awareness of the issues. For details please click here.

Tuesday 3rd February 2015, 6.45pm. I will be speaking about asylum and refuge at The Free Word Centre at an event co-presented with the literary and human rights organisation English PEN. Please click here for details and look here too. The event will feature poet Malika Booker and Granta 2013 Best Young Novelist Nadifa Mohamed.

Saturday 28th February 2015, 7pm, Sheikh Zayed Theatre, London School of Economics campus. As part of LSE's literary festival I will be chairing the novelists Elif Shafak and Neel Muckerjee in a discussion about the meaning of place in their work. Details here.

Tuesday 3rd March 2015 Publication of my 5th book, Asylum and Exile: The Hidden Voices of London.

Thursday 19th March, 2015, BBC Radio 3, Free Thinking. I will be participating in a discussion about asylum, exile and the sense of home. Listen here. Presented by Anne McElvoy.

Saturday 21st March 2015, 9.45am, Norwich Cathedral Hostry. I will be speaking on a panel about non-fiction and memoir alongside Charlotte Higgins and Patrick Barkham as part of the International Literature Showcase put on by the Norwich Writers' Centre and the British Council. Details here.

Thursday 26th March 2016, 1pm, Royal Society of Arts, London. I will be chairing author and politician Georgia Gould about her book Wasted: How Misunderstanding Young Britain Threatens Our Future (link takes you to my Guardian review of the book). Event details and booking here.

Friday 27th March 2015, noon, Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room. I will be interviewed about Asylum and Exile by critic, author and literary editor Suzi Feay as part of the FT Weekend Oxford Literary Festival. Details here.

Saturday 11th April 2015, 2pm, Nottingham New Art Exchange. I will be chairing Who Are We?, a debate on identity and race, with journalist Gary Younge and others. Full details here.

Wednesday 15th April 2015, 2.30pm, London Book Fair, Olympia, London. I will be participating in English PEN's literary salon, in an in-conversation with literary critic Suzi Feay. Full details here.

Thursday 16th April 2015, 2.30pm, London Book Fair, Olympia, London. I will be taking part in a panel discussion about patriarchal abuse and feminism in Mexico, alongside Lydia Cacho and Elena Poniatowska. Full details here.

Tuesday 21st April 2015, 6pm, Mitchell Library, Glasgow. As part of the Aye Write festival I will be interviewing Carole Hillenbrand about her book about Islam. Full details here. And then at 7.30pm at the same venue I will be doing an event about migration, immigration and my 5th book Asylum and Exile. Full details here.

Wednesday 22nd April 2015, 10.30pm, BBC2, Newsnight. I will be participating in a discussion about immigration, chaired by presenter Emily Maitlis. Watch it here.

Saturday 25th April 2015, 12:30, Sky News. I will be speaking briefly about the reality of life for asylum seekers on the news programme.

Sunday 26th April 2015, 2pm, Southbank Centre Level 5 Function Room. I will be chairing a discussion about women at Greenham Common featuring artists Jane and Louise Wilson. Details and tickets here.

Saturday 2nd May 2015, 2pm, Southbank Centre. I will be speaking on a panel titled Not in My Name about the British invasion of Iraq, alongside speakers including Lindsey Hilsum. Details and tickets here.

Monday 4th May 2015, 8pm, Brighton Dome Concert Hall, Brighton. I will be participating in an event organised by Liberty, celebrating the Human Rights Act and reading from new work inspired by it, alongside Ali Smith, Billy Bragg, Jackie Kay and Shami Chakrabarti. Full details here.

Monday 11th May 2015, 2.30pm. I will be interviewed by Kay Burley for Sky News, live, talking about the refugee crisis.

Thursday 15th May 2015 3.30pm. I will be discussing immigration on Sky News Live, opposite a super racist woman from a right wing think tank, who thinks Africa is a country.

Tuesday 26th May 2015, 6.30pm, London College of Fashion. I will be interviewing photographer Zanele Muholi, who has been shortlisted for this year's Deutsche Borse Photography Prize, about her work. Full details here.

Friday 29th May 2015, 7pm, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds. Following a performance of Eve Ensler's play Avocado, about sex trafficking, I will be participating in a panel discussion about the issues raised by the work. Full details here.

Saturday 6th June 2015, 5pm, Stoke Newington Literary Festival. I will be participating in a discussion about diversity in publishing, alongside Courttia Newland and Sunny Singh. Details here.

Sunday 7th June, 2015, 3pm, Stoke Newington Literary Festival. I will be discussing Asylum and Exile and the issues surrounding it with journalist and author Daniel Trilling. Full details here.

Friday 26th June 2015, 7.30pm, Rich Mix, London. For a (women-only) event organised by the South Asian Women's Creative Collective (SAWCC) London, I will be discussing Asylum and Exile and the issues surrounding it, with literary editor Rukhsana Yasmin. Full details here.

Tuesday 30th June 2015, 7.30pm, Rich Mix, London. I will be chairing an event in celebration of the 2015 Caine Prize for African Writing, with the shortlisted authors as well as other fiction writers including Naomi Alderman and Nadifa Mohamen. Full details here.

Wednesday 8th July 2015, 7pm, Housmans Bookshop, London. I will be discussing Asylum and Exile as part of the bookshop's London's Burning season. Full details here.

Monday 13th July 2015, Barbican Centre, 5-7pm. I will be speaking on a panel and presenting a short talk on Culture, Soft Power and International Leadership . Full details here.

Saturday 18th July 2015, 12.20pm. I will be on Sky News talking about the refugee crisis.

Wednesday 22nd July 2015, 4pm, Radio 4, Thinking Allowed. I will be one of Laurie Taylor's guests, discussing cultural and artistic meanings of the colour black.

Sunday 26th July 2015, 3pm, British Library. I will be chairing a discussion about Arabic literature, new forms and taboo subjects with the writers Jokha al-Harthi and Shahla Ujayli as part of the Shubbak festival. Full details here.

Saturday 8th August 2015, 12.20pm, Sky News. I will be talking about asylum seekers and refugees.

Saturday 8th August 2015, 7.15pm, Radio 4. I will be a guest on Saturday Review, alongside Helen Lewis and Ekow Eshun, reviewing Splendour at the Donmar Warehouse and Diary of a Teenage Girl, amongst other items.

Friday 21st August 2015, 7.30pm, Garden Theatre, Edinburgh International Book Festival. I am chairing a discussion on How Can We Think About The Middle East? With Khaled Fahmy, Mai Al-Nakib, Penny Johnson, Raja Shejadeh and Avi Shlaim. Details here - but the event is SOLD OUT.

Monday 24th August 2015, 10.15am, Radio 4, Woman's Hour. I will be discussing the novels of Iris Murdoch alongside Dr Anne Rowe, with presenter Emma Barnett.

Tuesday 25th August 2015, 2.15pm, Garden Theatre, Edinburgh International Book Festival. Yasmin Alibhai-Brown and I will be discussing migration and immigration. Full details here - please come along.

Sunday 30th August and Monday 31st August 2015, Boughton House, nr Kettering. I will be speaking on several panels about women in prison, asylum and exile and my other work at the Greenbelt Festival. Details to be confirmed.

Thursday 3rd September 2015, 10.30am, Sky News. I will be participating in a debate about the refugee crisis. Watch it here.

Sunday 6th September 2015 2015, 9.30am, Sky News. I will be speaking about the refugee crisis.

Saturday 3rd October 2015, 12 noon, Marlborough Literary Festival. I will be speaking about my book Asylum and Exile: The Hidden Voices of London, interviewed by John Crace (hurrah!). Full details here. And at 3pm the same day I am interviewing the novelists Kathryn Simmonds and Patricia Ferguson. Full details here.

Sunday 4th October 2015, 3pm, Henley Literary Festival. I will be speaking on a panel about diversity in publishing with Danuta Kean, Valeria Brandes and Stephen Thompson. Full details here.

Tuesday 6th October 2015, 7pm, Asia House. I will be interviewing Lucy Beresford about her new book Invisible Threads and speaking more generally about women's lives in India. Details here.

Thursday 9th October 2015, Southbank Centre, 7pm. I will be interviewing the writers Asne Seierstad, Misha Glenny and Jonny Steinberg about their work as investigative journalists in an event called Telling the Untellable. Full details here.

Friday 16th October 2015, Plymouth University, 6pm. I will be speaking about asylum, refuge and exile as part of the Peninsula Arts festival. Full details here.

Saturday 17th October 2015, Cross Street Chapel, Manchester, 2pm, as part of the Manchester Literature festival. In an event with Manchester Amnesty I will be doing a two-hander about asylum and refuge with Gulwali Passarlay. Full details here.

October 26th - November 24th 2015, Hong Kong. I will be a fellow of Hong Kong Baptist University's International Writers' Workshop programme alongside Mariko Nagai, Omar Farouk Sessay and Alecia Mackenzie.

27th - 29th November 2015. I will be speaking about asylum and exile at the Khayaal Festival in Lahore, Pakistan.

18th December 2015, CCTV America. I will be participating in a half hour panel talk about the refugee crisis for CCTV America's show The Heat, presented by Anand Naidoo. Watch the talk here.


Selected 2014 events 

Wednesday 12th November 2014, 6.45pm, Asia House, London. Chairing an event on Asian stereotypes in culture, with Anna Chen, Daniel York, Yasmeen Khan and others. Details here. and a write-up of the event is here.

Wednesday 19th November 2014, 6pm, Arcadia University in London (Southampton Place). I will be talking about my outreach work with asylum seekers and refugees. Details here.

Thursday 20th November 2014, 8.40pm, ICA Cinema 1. I will be introducing a screening of the film Tank Girl as part of Club Des Femmes' Ada & After: Women Do Science [Fiction] film season. Details here.

Sunday 23rd November 2014, 3pm, Electric Cinema, Shoreditch. I will be introducing a screening of the first Hunger Games film (from 2012) as part of Club Des Femmes' Ada & After: Women Do Science [Fiction] film season. Details here.

Saturday 29th November 2014, 7.15pm, BBC Radio 4. I will be a guest on Saturday Review. We'll be reviewing the new novel by William Gibson, the Conflict.Time.Photography exhibition at Tate Modern, Chimera at the Gate Theatre and much more.


2013

Monday 10th January 2013, 2.30pm, Oxford Book Store, Kolkata, India. I will be speaking at an event called Talking Writing alongside Tishani Doshi, Anosh Irani, Faiza Sultan Khan, Farah Ghuznavi, Rimi B. Chatterjee andUrvashi Butalia as part of the Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival. And...

Saturday 12th January 2013, 2pm, National Library, Kolkata, India. I will be speaking at an event called Media for Change alongside Premesh Chandran, Ruchira Gupta, Salil Tripathi, Abhijit Roy and Jonathan Shainin.

Saturday 16th February 2013, 7.15pm, Radio 4. I will be a guest on Saturday Review. We will be reviewing the Duchamp exhibition at the Barbican and the latest work by playwright Mark Ravenhill and (hurrah!) novelist Maggie O'Farrell.

Thursday 21st February 2013, 7.15pm, Radio 4, Front Row. I will be reviewing the play If You Won’t Let Us Sleep We Won’t Let You Dream, on at the Royal Court, for presenter John Wilson.

Thursday 28th February 2013, 8.30pm, Kings Place, London. I will be speaking about The Feminine Mystique, 50 years on, as part of Jewish Book Week, alongside Julie Bindel, Leah Thorn and Lisa Appignanesi.

Sunday 3rd March 2013, 4.30pm, Southbank Centre, London. I will be interviewing the writer Lisa Appignanesi about her book on the history of Cabaret. Event details here.

Saturday 9th March 2013, 5.30pm, Southbank Centre, London. I will be reading at the launch of Fifty Shades of Feminism, alongside Susie Orbach, Elif Shafak, Rachel Homes, Ahdaf Soueif and many others.

Sunday 10th March 2013, 10.30-11.30am, Southbank Centre. I will be chairing a panel celebrating and debating Jane Austen on this 200th anniversary of the publication of Pride and Prejudice, with historian Kate Williams, novelist Isabel Wolff, literary editory Suzi Feay and members of the Austentatious improv comedy-drama group.

Saturday 16th March 2013, 7.15pm, Radio 4. I will be a guest on Saturday Review, alongside Dreda Say Mitchell and Deborah Moggach. We will be reviewing the new Lee Daniels film The Paperboy, amongst other items.

Saturday 16th March and Sunday 17th March 2013, Watershed, Bristol. I will be chairing the events at the Bristol Women's Literature festival. Guests will include Stella Duffy, Helen Dunmore, Selma Dabbagh, Helen Taylor, Marie Mulvey-Roberts, Charlotte Crofts, Kristin Aune, Josephine Tsui and many others.

Saturday 23rd March 2013, Christchurch College, Oxford, 4pm. I will be speaking alongside Rhiannon Lassiter and Abigail Gibbs as part of the Times Oxford Literary Festival about being published at a relatively young age.

Tuesday 26th March 2013, 10am, Radio 4. I will be on Woman's Hour with Rachel Johnson, talking about being a lady (or not).

Saturday 13th April 2013, Glasgow Aye Write literary festival. I will be chairing three sessions: with Shereen el-Feki, author of  Sex and the Citadel: Intimate Life in a Changing Arab World - event details here; Frances Harrison, author of Still Counting the Dead: Survivors of Sri Lanka's Hidden War in an event called War Zones; and Naomi Alderman, author of The Liars' Gospel.

Sunday 14th April 2013, Glasgow Aye Write literary festival. I will be participating in a celebration of the publication of Fifty Shades of Feminism. Event details are here.

Tuesday 16th April 2013, Free Word Centre, London, 7pm. I will be taking part in a discussion on Community, Ritual and Writing alongside Tom Chatfield, Isabel Hilton and Marina Benjamin.

Thursday 18th April 2013, Southbank Centre, 6.30pm. I will be interviewing international war reporter and author Frances Harrison about her book Still Counting the Dead. For event details click here.

Saturday 20th April 2013, 7.15pm, Radio 4. I will be a guest on Saturday Review, looking over the week's newest offerings in film, books, art, TV and theatre.

Sunday 21st April 2013, as part of the Southbank's Afghanistan: What You Need To Know day, I will be presenting the 11am session on the country's political past, present and future with Victor Sebestyen, Patrick Hennessey, Jonathan Steele and Medea Benjamin. I will also be presenting the 2.30pm session with Zarghuna Kargar whose book 'Dear Zari: Hidden Stories from the Women of Afghanistan' gives voice to the secret lives of women across Afghanistan. For the day's event details please click here.

Thursday 25th April 2013, Royal Society of Arts, London, 1pm. I will be presenting the lunchtime talk with Professor Alison Wolf, author of the XX Factor, about women and the global workplace. For event details click here.

Saturday 27th April 2013, Radio 4, PM Show, 5pm. I will be talking about Eton and private education with Stanley Johnson.

Tuesday 30th April 2013, Cass Business School, all day. I will be chairing an industry and academia conference on Research, Creativity and Business 2: Making the Extraordinary in collaboration with the Culture Capital Exchange. Click the link above for participation details.

Tuesday 7th May 2013, The Women's Organistion, 7.30pm, Liverpool, as part of their Writing on the Wall literary festival. I will be presenting a panel, alongside Liz Kelly and Rahila Gupta, on violence against women, activism and the women's movement. Click here for event details.

Thursday 9th May 2013, Slough Library, evening. I will be in conversation with writer and broadcaster Shyama Perera. For event details click here.

Friday 10th May 2013, Radio 3, The Verb, 10pm. I will be participating in a discussion about public intellectuals, alongside Stephen Law, Paul Taylor and Rob Colls. Details here.

Saturday 11th May 2013, Watershed, Bristol, 3pm. I will be speaking alongside Frances Harrison in conversation about her book Still Counting the Dead, about the Sri Lanka war, chaired by Sara Davies.

Saturday 18th May 2013, Watershed, Bristol, 11am, I will be speaking to the writer and researcher Shereen El-Feki about her book on sexuality in the Middle East, Sex and the Citadel. For event details click here.

Sunday 19th May 2013, Arnolfini, Bristol, 5pm. I will be participating in an event about Fifty Shades of Feminism alongside Linda Grant, Rachel Holmes and Lisa Appignanesi. Event details here.

Thursday 23rd May 2013, Exeter Northcott Theatre, 7pm. From Suffragettes To Margaret Thatcher and Beyond. I will be chairing a panel discussion on women and our place in history, politics and society, with Rachel Holmes, Michelle Ryan and Julia Neville. Event details here.

Monday 27th May 2013, Southbank Centre, 6.30pm, Level 5 Function Room. I will be presenting a panel discussion about fictional portrayals of abortion doctors with the writers Kate Manning, author of My Notorious Life by Madame X and Gabriel Weston, author of Dirty Work.

Friday 31st May 2013, Kings Place, 6.15pm. I will be speaking on a panel discussing Does Research Matter? The Public Value of The Humanities. For further details click here.

Saturday 1st June 2013, Kings Place, all day. I will be chairing two long public sessions looking at the crossover of humanities, arts and research. The first, from 10.30am - 1pm looking at Mobility and Movement of Ideas: how culture is transmitted, adapted and transformed across time and place. The second,  from 2.30pm - 5pm, looking at Communicating the image and curating the humanities. Everyone's welcome - click the links for details.

Sunday 2nd June 2013, Southbank Centre, 2nd June, 1pm, Purcell Room. I will be interviewing Richard Sennett about his book Together.

Saturday 8th June 2013, St George's Church, Bloomsbury. I will be interviewing writer, academic, mythographer and total effing genius Marina Warner about her work as part of the Wilding Festival. Details here.

Wednesday 12th June 2013, 7.15pm, Radio 4, Front Row. I will be reviewing The Amen Corner at the National Theatre with presenter Mark Lawson.

Thursday 13th June 2013, 10pm, Radio 3, Night Waves. I will be a guest on the show, talking about political and social privilege.

Monday 17th June 2013, 6.30pm, The Nehru Centre, 8 South Audley St, W1. As part of the launch for Kishwar Desai's novel The Sea of Innocence I will be chairing a discussion about sexual violence in fact and fiction with Desai, Helena Kennedy and Joan Smith. Details here.

Tuesday 18th June 2013, 7pm - 9pm, Shoreditch House, London. I will be participating in a panel discussion about the representation of women, celebrity and sexuality alongside Helen Lewis and others. Details here.

Saturday 22nd June 2013, Radio 4, 7.15pm. I will be a guest on Saturday Review, looking at new work by Evie Wylde, Richard Linklater, the V&A and more.

Monday 24th June 2013, 7pm-8pm, Chelsea Theatre, London. I will be speaking on a panel about Middle Eastern women and theatre as part of the LIFT theatre festival, prior to a performance of Madame Plaza, a co-production with the Shubbak festival of Middle Eastern culture. I will be speaking alongside Joan Smith, Maysoon Pachachi and Yasmin Alibhai-Brown.

Thursday 27th June 2013, Asia House, London, 6.45pm. I will be chairing a discussion about contemporary Arabic fiction. Details here. My guests will be the Lebanese Jana Elhassan and Saudi Arabian Mohammed Hassan Alwan, both shortlisted for the 2013 International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF).

Thursday 18th July 2013, New Art Exchange, Nottingham, 6.30pm. I will be in conversation with Skinder Hundal about race and culture in contemporary Britain. Details here.

Friday 2nd August 2013, Camp Bestival, 1.10pm in the Guardian Literary Tent. I will be speaking about global protest, revolution and new media. Details here.

Monday 16th August 2013 - Monday 19th August 2013, Edinburgh International Book Festival. I will be chairing three of the Blueprint debates, on mental health, prisons and the justice system and nuclear defence, with speakers including Menzies Campbell, Erwin James, Bryan McLaughlin; and chairing author interviews with Shereen El-Feki, Eyal Weizman and Peter Terrin and Philippe Claudel.

Sunday 25th August 2013 - Monday 26th August 2013, Greenbelt Arts Festival, Cheltenham. I will be giving three talks, on Palestine (Monday, 4pm), international war and post-war reportage (Sunday 5pm, followed by a book signing) and journalism in the digital age (Monday 10.45am).

Wednesday 28th August 2013, St George's, Bristol. I will be interviewing Margaret Atwood about her career and her latest novel MaddAddam, in a sold-out event at 6.15pm.

Friday 6th September 2013, Voice of Russia radio station, multiple time slots. I will be participating in a half hour discussion on Syrian women and girls and sexual violence, presented by Juliet Spare, alongside Julie Bindel, Dr Hallad Diyab and Henri Myrtinnen. The broadcast can be heard in full here.

Friday 6th September 2013, Newsnight, BBC 2, 10.30pm. I will be participating in a light-hearted discussion about Britishness [last item, watchable until 13.09/13] with Jacob Rees-Mogg, presented by Kirsty Wark.

Saturday 7th September 2013, BBC Radio 4, 7.15pm. I will be a guest on Saturday Review, covering Jhumpa Lahiri's new book The Lowland, the film The Great Beauty and much more.

Thursday 26th September 2013, Purcell Room, Southbank Centre, 7.45pm. I will be interviewing Jhumpa Lahiri about her novel The Lowland. Details here.

Friday 27th September 2013, Foyles Bookshop  Gallery, London, 6.30pm. Tania Hershman, Spread the Word and I will be celebrating the Spread the Word writing prize, which we judged, and talking on a panel about short stories. Details here.

Saturday 28th September 2013, Marlborough Literary Festival. At 12 noon I will be in conversation with novelist Selma Dabbagh about writing about Palestine and at 2.30pm I will be interviewing Bernardine Evaristo about her new novel Mr Loverman.

Wednesday 2nd October 2013, BBC Radio 4, Front Row. I will be reviewing the Shunga: Sex and Pleasure in Japanese Art exhibition at the British Museum.

Friday 4th October 2013, Voice of Russia radio, 4pm and 6.30pm. I will be participating in a half hour discussion about sexual violence in India and the death penalty. It can be heard here.

Thursday 17th October 2013, BBC 2, Newsnight, 10.30pm. I will be discussing social mobility with David Skelton. Presented by Jeremy Paxman.

Saturday 19th October 2013, 2pm, Cross Street Chapel, Manchester. As part of the Manchester Literary Festival I will be talking about writing about Palestine. Details here.

Wednesday 23rd October 2013, 6.30pm, University of Westminster. I will be chairing an event to support the publication of the book Asian Britain with Razia Iqbal, Susheila Nasta and Florian Stadtler as part of the South Asian Literature Festival. Details here.

Sunday 3rd November 2013, 3.30pm, Southbank Centre. I will be interviewing historian Lucy Robinson about Greenham Common as part of The Rest Is Noise. Details here.

Sunday 10th November 2013, 2pm, Southbank Centre. I will be chairing a discussion about 80s pop icons with Ruth Barnes, Paul Burston and Matt Thorne as part of The Rest is Noise. Details here.

Friday 29th November 2013, 4.30pm and 6.30pm, Voice of Russia radio. Repeated Monday 2nd Dec at 5.30pm and 7.30 pm. I will be participating in a discussion about contemporary theatre and social issues. Listenable here.

Sunday 8th November 2013, 2pm, Southbank Centre. I am chairing a discussion about the effects of the digital revolution on the production, distribution and business of music, with Mica Levi, Bob Stanley and Adam Harper. Details here.


2012

Saturday 28th January 2012, 11am, Southbank Centre. I will be chairing a panel regarding different cultural, social and historial perspectives on death. My speakers are Julian Baggini, Huma Qureshi, Giles Goddard and Desmond Biddulph.

Saturday 4th February 2012, Conway Hall, London, all day. I will be presenting and chairing at the Go Feminist conference.

Sunday 26th February 2012, 12.30pm, Kings Place, London. I will be interviewing novelist Shalom Auslander for Jewish Book Week.

Friday 2nd March 2012, West Yorkshire Playhouse. I will be presenting and chairing at the Vamps, Vixens and Feminists all day event about women in theatre and the performing arts.

Saturday 10th March 2012, Southbank Centre, London. I will be chairing a discussion about pioneering women as part of the WOW festival. My speakers are Dame Anne Leslie, Camila Batmanghelidjh and Salma Said.

Sunday 11th March 2012, Southbank Centre, London. I will be chairing and curating a discussion about notions of ladyhood with Anna Blundy, Rachel Johnson, Karen McLeod and Catherine Hakim.

Friday 16th March 2012, Glasgow Central Library, as part of the city's Aye Write festival. At 11am I will be interviewing Noo Saro-Wiwa about her book Looking For Transwonderland, about contemporary Nigeria. At 2pm I will be interviewing British Palestinian novelist Selma Dabbagh about her novel Out of It.

Saturday 17th March 2012, Glasgow Aye Write festival. I will be chairing an event in celebration of the late novelist Angela Carter. My speakers will be Marina Warner and Susannah Clapp.

Wednesday 21st March 2012, Barnes Literary Society. Big up your bad selves. I will be giving a talk on the novels of Iris Murdoch.

Thursday 12th April 2012, 9.15pm, Radio 3. I will be speaking on Night Waves about women in politics.

Monday 23rd April 2012, evening, Royal Society of Literature. I will be celebrating the work of Angela Carter alongside Caryll Philips, Susanna Clapp and Anne Chisholm.

Friday 4th May 2012, 4.30pm, The Globe Theatre, London. I will be participating in a panel discussion entitled Theatre under Occupation: What Does Shakespeare Have to Say to the Palestinians? following the Ramallah-based Ashtar theatre company's staging of Richard II in Arabic.

Tuesday 8th May 2012, 7pm. Part of Liverpool's Writing on the Wall festival. I will be discussing the women's movement at an event called From Slutwalks to Spare Ribs.

Wednesday 16th May 2012, 7pm, Mosaic Rooms, London. I will be launching my fourth book, Beyond the Wall: Writing A Path Through Palestine by chairing a panel discussion about war reporting with Anna Blundy, Rosie Garthwaite and others.

Friday 18th May 2012, 7.30pm, Watershed, Bristol. I will be chairing an event celebrating the work of Angela Carter alongside Christopher Frayling, Susannah Clapp and Charlotte Crofts.

Saturday 19th May 2012, 2pm, Watershed, Bristol. I will be in conversation with novelist Selma Dabbagh as part of Bristol's Festival of Ideas, in an event called Palestine Now.

Sunday 27th May 2012, Brighton Dome. I will be interviewing novelists Abdulrazak Gurnah and Romesh Gunesekera for the Brighton Festival.

Wednesday 30th May 2012, 7pm, Kuumba Imani Millennium Centre, Liverpool, as part of the city's Writing on the Wall festival. I will be in conversation with novelist Ahdaf Soueif about the Middle East revolutions.

Thursday 31st May 2012, 10.30pm, BBC2, I will be on Newsnight talking about James Bond alongside Anthony Horowitz.

Saturday 9th June 2012, 11.30am, Hay Festival, Hay-on-Wye. I will be interviewing war reporter Janine di Giovanni.

Sunday 10th June 2012, 11.30am, Hay Festival. I will be interviewing Ahdaf Soueif about Cairo and the Arab Spring.

Saturday 16th June 2012, 7.15pm, Radio 4, Saturday Review. I will be reviewing the film Cosmopolis, the play Gatz and more alongside Linda Grant and Adam Mars Jones.

Thursday 21st June 2012, evening, Nehru Centre, London. I will be interviewing the novelist Kishwar Desai about her latest book Origins of Love.

Friday 22nd June 2012, 7.15pm, Radio 4, Front Row. I will be reviewing The Crow, a dance/puppetry animation inspired by Ted Hughes' poetry. It's dreadful.

Saturday 30th June 2012, Southbank Centre, London. I will be presenting at the venue's Poetry Parnassus. At 11am I will be chairing an open meeting of poets, editors and poetry festival directors. At 3pm I will be chairing an event on women and revolution with the writers Gioconda Belli, Farah Didi, Chiranan Pitpreecha and Amanda Hopkinson.

Saturday 30th June 2012, 5pm, Conway Hall, London. I will be curating and chairing a panel discussion about political film with journalist Emma Simmonds and film-maker Ishbel Whitaker as part of the Looking In Looking Out film festival.

Monday 2nd July 2012, 11pm, BBC Radio 4, Off The Page. I will be discussing science fiction and science fact alongside Dominic Arkwright, Mark Mason and Mark C Newton. For the pieces we wrote and discussed please click here.

Tuesday 3rd July 2012, 6.30pm, Conway Hall. I will be curating and chairing a panel on the women of old Hollywood, with writers Kira Cochrane, Jenny Hammerton and Pamela Hutchinson, as part of the Looking In Looking Out film festival.

Thursday 5th July 2012, 7.15pm, Radio 4, Front Row. I will be reviewing Sky's new adaptation of Sinbad.

Saturday 7th July 2012, 5.30pm, Southbank Centre, London. I will be chairing a discussion on The Art of War (Reportage), with BBC war reporter Frances Harrison, journalist Oliver Bullough and Caine prize winning writer Michela Wrong.

Monday 9th July 2012, 5.30pm, Bluecoat Gallery, Liverpool. I will be giving a solo reading and talk on the effects of the military occupation in Palestine as part of the Liverpool Arabic Arts Festival.

Saturday 14th July 2012, 7pm, Arnolfini, Bristol. I will be chairing a discussion of Angela Carter's A Bloody Chamber, with academic Marie Mulvey-Roberts and writers Kirsty Logan and Cassandra Parkin as part of Bristol Shortstoryville.

Sunday 15th July 2012, 10am, BBC 2. I will be a guest on Sunday Morning Live, talking about contraception and other things.

Monday 16th July 2012 - Saturday 21st July 2012. Teaching creative non-fiction at Arvon Lumb Bank alongside the brilliant and wonderful Hephzibah Anderson.

Thursday 2nd August 2012, 7.15pm, BBC Radio 4, Front Row. I will be reviewing the new production of Much Ado About Nothing at Stratford.

Friday 17th August 2012, 4pm, Edinburgh International Book Festival. I will be chairing a panel discussion on international war reportage with Ed Vulliamy and Janine di Giovanni.

Saturday 18th August 2012, 7.15pm, Radio 4, Saturday Review. I will be guest presenting the show, with Dreda Say Mitchell, Cahal Dallat and Maeve Kennedy as my guests.

Saturday 25th August 2012, 7.15pm, Radio 4, Saturday Review. I will be guest presenting the show, with Kerry Shale, Natalie Haynes and Paul Morley as my guests.

Thursday 30th August 2012, Foyles, Cabot Circus, Bristol. I will be interviewing journalist Lydia Cacho about her book, Slavery Inc., about international trafficking.

Saturday 15th September 2012, all day, Southbank Centre, London. As part of the venue's Everything You Wanted to Know About The Arab Revolutions day I will be chairing two events, The Road To Revolution, looking at the background of the revolutions; and Citizen Media, looking at new types of journalism and reporting, with speakers from Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Bahrain and Syria.

Monday 17th September 2012, 7.15pm, Radio 4, Front Row. I will be reviewing Caryl Churchill's new play Love and Information at the Royal Court.

Saturday 29th September 2012, part of the Marlborough Literary Festival. I will be interviewing novelist Chibundu Onuzo at 11am and writers Michele Hanson and Zaiba Malik at 2pm.

Wednesday 3rd October 2012, Asia House, London, 6.45pm. I will be reading alongside Daljit Nagra and Shyama Perera at an event for Wasafiri Magazine. For details click here.

Thursday 4th October 2012, 7.15pm, Radio 4, Front Row. I will be reviewing a new short Caryl Curchill play, Ding Dong The Wicked, as an adjunct to my Front Row review last week of her wonderful major new work Love and Information.

Sunday 7th October 2012, Cheltenham Literary Festival, 8pm. I will be discussing erotica with Bel Mooney, Ruth Padel and Brooke Magnati. Click here for details.

Monday 8th October 2012, Cheltenham Literary Festival, 2pm. I will be discussing women and the home with Yvonne Roberts and Angela Neustatter. Click here for details. On the same day at 6.30pm I will be discussing the importance of the soldier as a literary figure with Allan Mallinson and James Holland. Click here for details.

Tuesday 9th October 2012, 5.30pm, SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies), London. I will be curating and chairing a panel event called Palestine Now: Writers Respond as part of the university's autumn series of lectures on the contemporary Middle East. Further details here. My speakers will be Rachel Shabi, Naomi Foyle, Miranda Pennell and Selma Dabbagh.

Saturday 13th October 2012, Cheltenham Literary Festival, 4pm. I will be discussing (playfully) the 1962 Booker Prize shortlist with Erica Wagner, Sarah Churchwell, Katie Hickman and Sam Leith. Details here.

Tuesday 23rd October 2012, Southbank Centre, 7.45pm. I will be speaking about working in prisons at an event called Words and Sentences, with Philip Cowell, Courttia Newland, Simon Mole and Irene Garrow.

Wednesday 24th October 2012, The British Academy, 6pm. I will be chairing a panel discussion about women and society with Assistant Commissioner Cressida Dick, Morag Shiach, Deborah Mattinson, Vicki Bruce, Anne-Marie Rafferty, Rachel Millward and others. For details click here.

Saturday 3rd November 2012, all day, Bush Theatre, London. As part of the South Asian Literature Festival I will be presenting two events: one to launch Lifelines: New Writing from Bangladesh, 12.00pm - 1.15pm and another to launch Five Degrees: the Asian Writer Anthology, from 5.15pm - 6.30pm.

Thursday 8th November 2012, 7.15pm, Radio 4, Front Row. I will be reviewing the new Michael Winterbottom project, Everyday, for presenter Mark Lawson.

Sunday 11th November 2012, The Map cafe, London, 6.30pm. I will be discussing Palestine with writer and academic Ghada Karmi, author of Looking for Fatima and Another Man's Wife.

Friday 16th November and Saturday 17th November 2012. I am speaking at a conference in Tunisia about art, culture, politics and leadership amongst revolutionary Arab states. Speaker details confidential.

Sunday 18th November 2012, Leighton House, London, 3pm. I will be in conversation with British Palestinian author Selma Dabbagh as part of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea's Nour festival of North African Arts. Event details here.

Saturday 1st December 2012, 7.15pm, BBC Radio 4. I will be on Saturday Review, reviewing the week's upcoming arts events alongside John Mullan and Patrick Gale.

Saturday 1st December and Sunday 2nd December 2012, all day and evening, Hackney Picture House, London. I will be chairing panel discussions and director Q&As as matron of the London Feminist Film festival. Programme details here.

Wednesday 5th December 2012, 7.15pm, Front Row, Radio 4. I will be reviewing the new production of Julius Caesar at the Donmar Warehouse for presenter Mark Lawson.

Friday 7th December 2012, The Watershed, Bristol, 8pm. I will be opening the Bristol Palestine Film Festival and chairing a Q&A with speakers including film directors Leila Sansour and Ken Loach after a screening of the film 5 Broken cameras. Details here.

Saturday 8th December 2012, The Watershed, Bristol, 6pm. I will be speaking and reading at an event called Writing A Path Through Palestine alongside writers Selma Dabbagh and Guy Mannes-Abbott. Details here.

Thursday 13th December 2012, Ondaatje Wing Theatre, National Portrait Gallery, 7pm. I will be giving a talk about Iris Murdoch. Event details here.