To Know the Other from Within

“In a mental climate such as this, the very act of writing a story or a poem - even if you're not at that moment writing about "the situation" - instantly becomes a tiny act of protest, of defiance; an act of personal definition within a reality that threatens to wipe us out…

…When we write here we manage to experience the almost forgotten flexibility of a change of perspective; of looking at reality from somebody else's eyes, sometimes even the eyes of our enemy”. David Grossman March, 2005

Internationally acclaimed writer David Grossman has stressed the urgency of ‘knowing the other from within’ in order to fight the clichés and prejudice rife within any conflict. The Israeli writer has made injustice one ofhis central themes, tirelessly calling for the end of the occupation and the creation of a Palestinian state.

Here he tells us of the challenge of living on the fault line; writing tomorrow’s literary classics  whilst fighting today’s battles.

David Grossman is one of Israel’s best loved writers, the author of seven novels,  three books of journalism, children’s books and a play.

Maya Jaggi is an award-winning journalist, one of the Guardian Review's chief profile writers and contributor to The Independent, the Daily Telegraph and BBC radio.

THE TALK WILL BE FOLLOWED BY MUSIC WITH DAPHNA SADEH AND THE VOYAGERS.

THE CAFÉ WILL BE OPEN TO SERVE FOOD AND WINE