Novelist and poet Ben Okri delivered a powerful provocation on the urgent need for ‘active citizenship’ during the Norfolk & Norwich Festival earlier this year. Afterwards, we caught up with Ben to discuss leadership, responsibility and dealing with seemingly insurmountable challenges.

We highly recommend reading Ben’s provocation on The Guardian’s website alongside this episode: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jan/30/populism-brexit-citizens-political-responsibility

Hosted by Simon Jones, writer and Digital Marketing Manager at the National Centre for Writing.

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Show notes

Mentioned events:
Can we, as citizens, make a difference? https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/article/can-we-as-citizens-make-a-difference/

Useful links:
Active citizenship provocation: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jan/30/populism-brexit-citizens-political-responsibility
Barack Obama: A Celebration in Verse: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/19/barack-obama-celebration-verse-ben-okri

Music by Bennet Maples: sonicfruit.co.uk/