Hassan Blasim & David Constantine

Two remarkable talents read from their new collections, The Madman of Freedom Square and The Shieling, both from Comma Press. Hassan Blasim is a poet, filmmaker, editor and refugee of the Iraq War. His debut collection (yet to be published in the original Arabic) is a dark excursion into the chaos of contemporary Baghdad, an allegorical snapshot of recent Iraqi history (spanning over twenty years from the Iran-Iraq War through to the Occupation), and a rare critique of the refugee experience in Europe. This book has been selected to receive financial assistance from English PEN's Writers in Translation programme, supported by Bloomberg.

David Constantine has been described as 'perhaps the finest of contemporary writers in this form' (The Reader). His previous book, Under the Dam was one of the most critically acclaimed short story collections of recent years and heralded by The Independent as 'flawless'.

* We realise that you are going to be spoilt for choice over the Short Weekend, so, to make things a little easier on your pockets we are offering a fantastic joint ticket offer on the following four events: When It Changed: Science-into-Fiction Anthology launch, Hassan Blasim & David Constantine and Chris Beckett & James Lasdun. All 4 events can be booked for the total price of £10 / £6 by phoning 0843 208 0500 and quoting “MLF Short Weekend Offer”.