Read Think Act: Live

Since September last year, the Lighthouse website has included a series of short videos under the banner of ‘Read Think Act’. In each episode, we ask an author one question for each word, seeking to bridge the gap between the inspiration or outrage we often find in books, and the practical steps we need to take action.

In this special Radical Book Fair live version of Read Think Act, writers and activists come together to interrogate the space between writing, reading and change-making. What is really the role of books in galvanising for action and how are we moved to act by different kinds of writing? What risks are involved if we place too much trust on books as activist, and how can we keep questioning the industry that produces them - one which continues to be marked by severe inequality?

Our speakers:

Emily Kenway is a writer, activist and former policy adviser. Her first book, 'The Truth about Modern Slavery' (2021) showed how exploitation operates in the world today and was described as a 'powerful treatise' in the Guardian. Her second book, 'Who Cares: the hidden crisis of caregiving and how we solve it' is out in April 2023 and weaves memoir of caring for her mother with in-depth research into unpaid caregiving around the world. Her writing has appeared in the Guardian, Huffington Post, Times Literary Supplement, Literary Hub and more, and she has provided commentary on social issues on most major TV and radio channels.

Mohamed Tonsy is a queer Egyptian writer, ceramicist, and recent PhD graduate from the University of Edinburgh. His writing has appeared in Mizna, Epoch Press, was shortlisted in MFest’s 2021 Short Story Competition and won a Quarterly John Byrne Award. His debut novel, You Must Believe in Spring was published in October 2022 by Hajar Press.

Hannah Lavery is an award winning poet, playwright, director and workshop facilitator.

Jessica Gaitán Johannesson is a Swedish/Colombian writer and climate justice activist based in Edinburgh. Her debut novel How We Are Translated (2021) was longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize and her essay collection The Nerves and their Endings was published in August 2022. She was Wasafiri Magazine’s Writer-in-Residence for 2021-22, delivering workshops on writing and climate justice.  She works as Digital Campaigns Manager for Lighthouse Books.