The 2026 PEN Lecture with Max Porter
Wednesday 29th April, 6pm-7pm
Curtis Auditorium, Herschel Building, Newcastle University
The 2026 PEN Lecture with Max Porter
Doors: 5.30pm
Event: 6–7.30pm
Book signing: 7.30–8pm
English PEN’s annual PEN Lecture invites a leading writer to reflect on the current state of free expression, and to explore the resonance – or dissonance – of the words of the PEN Charter, the guiding principles of the organisation, with our current reality. The 2026 PEN Lecture will be delivered by award-winning writer Max Porter on 29 April 2026, at the Curtis Auditorium, Newcastle, in partnership with New Writing North and the Newcastle Centre for Literary Arts.
In an era of upheaval and conflict, Porter will ask what place the Charter’s principles hold in our society, reflecting particularly on its phrase “in time of peace”. After delivering his lecture, he will be in conversation with award-winning writer and NCLA Director Preti Taneja.
