Event - SOLD OUT – Virago Speakeasy at Pages Cheshire Street: On Witches

Event - SOLD OUT – Democracy May Not Exist: Astra Taylor with Shiri Shalmy

Event - Do Something: Kajal Odedra with Minnie Rahman

Event - SOLD OUT – Virago Speakeasy at Pages Cheshire Street: On Witches

Event - SOLD OUT – Democracy May Not Exist: Astra Taylor with Shiri Shalmy

Event - Do Something: Kajal Odedra with Minnie Rahman

Live - Chris Power & Lauren Oyler in Conversation

Live - Jamie Windust & Alex Iantaffi in Conversation

Live - Who’s Loving You: Sara Jafari, Amna Saleem, Varaidzo, and Sara Collins in Conversation with Sareeta Domingo

Venue and accessibility information

Venue and accessibility information

Collection Times

Visit Us

Recent Tweets

10.30.2019 by Pages of Hackney //

Virago Speakeasy at Pages Cheshire Street is a new event partnership bringing together Virago and non-Virago authors and readers in a dynamic, challenging and interactive forum.

Join us on the eve of Halloween for a special Virago event on witches. From ancient folklore to gothic historical novels, from Trump’s campaign propaganda to protest movements, from the Bible to pop music, women have been called witches – and many are proud to claim the title. Are witches the wise women in society, the rebels or the villains – and how does their depiction in our favourite stories shape our understanding of their role? Grab a friend, a drink and share tales of your wickedest women for a spellbinding night of literary chat (and a few cackles).

With Shahrukh Husain, author of The Virago Book of Witches and Imogen Hermes Gowar, author of The Mermaid & Mrs Hancock

The Virago Speakeasy at Pages is sponsored by Lussa Gin and Wild Card Brewery, two great indie drinks companies run by women.

10.16.2019 by Pages of Hackney //

Join us as we welcome writer and filmmaker Astra Taylor to discuss her new book, DEMOCRACY MAY NOT EXIST BUT WE'LL MISS IT WHEN IT'S GONE, with Shiri Shalmy.

Did democracy ever exist? Why is it no longer possible?

Democracy is in crisis. In every major company it has been stole by elites or in the hands of strong men. In democracy’s name we see a raft of policies that spread inequality and xenophobia worldwide. It is clear that democracy—the principle of government by and for the people - is not living up to its promise.

In fact, real democracy—inclusive and egalitarian—has in fact never existed. In this urgent and engaging book, Astra Taylor invites us to re-examine the term. Is democracy a means or an end? A process or a set of desired outcomes? What if the those outcomes, whatever they may be—peace, prosperity, equality, liberty, an engaged citizenry—can be achieved by non-democratic means? Or if an election leads to a terrible outcome? If democracy means rule by the people, what does it mean to rule and who counts as the people? The inherent paradoxes are too often unnamed and unrecognized. But to ignore them is no longer possible.

Democracy May Not Exist, but We’ll Miss It When It’s Gone offers a better understanding of what is possible, what we want, and why democracy is so hard to realize.

Astra Taylor is the author of The People's Platform (winner of the American Book Award) and made two documentary films, Zizek! and Examined Life. Taylor’s writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, n+1, and The Baffler, where she is a contributing editor. She lives in New York City.

Shiri Shalmy is a cultural worker and organiser. Over the years she has curated and produced a large number of public art exhibitions and projects, as well as work around radical education and organised labour. She is particularly interested in developing autonomous, self-organised structures around class politics and in movement building through direct action. She is a co-founder of Antiuniversity Now and an organiser with the grassroots campaigning trade union United Voices of the World.

10.10.2019 by Pages of Hackney //

Join as for a discussion of people power and grass-roots activism with change.org's UK Director, Kajal Odedra. Kajal will be reading from her new book, DO SOMETHING, before being joined in conversation by Minnie Rahman.

People power works and is changing the world around us.

This is a user's guide to activism by one of the UK's biggest names in grass-roots campaigning. Illustrated with lessons from the real world, it is a guide to creating change for anyone who has ever asked themselves 'why hasn't anyone done something about that?'

We are taught to believe that only a small group of people in society have the ability to change laws and company policies. That's simply not true any longer - each of is capable of using our experiences to change the world. We just need to use that thing that makes us different, and learn how to channel it.

Having worked as a campaigner for the last 12 years, Kajal Odedra of change.org - which is used by 17 million people in the UK - has learned the tricks of the trade that have traditionally been held in circles of power, and believes that everyone should know how to speak up and be heard. Her mission is to show people how to use their voice to make their community, politicians and CEOs take notice.

Do Something is a blueprint for creating change; an indispensable guide to inspire anyone feeling frustrated, no matter what the issue, to stand up and do something.

Kajal Odedra is UK Director at Change.org, the world’s largest online petition website with 200 million users worldwide and over 17 million in the UK, where she has helped strategise movements such as the petition to end tampon tax and the New Era Housing campaign. Kajal has worked in the campaigns and tech sector for over 10 years, is an advisor for the women in STEM group Ada’s List and founded the People of Colour initiative. Kajal lives and works in London.

Minnie Rahman is a writer and campaigner specialising in migrant’s rights, climate change and social justice. After working in both the European and UK Parliament for 5 years as an expert in Government policy, she moved on to help co-ordinate the campaign to uncover the Windrush scandal with the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants. Minnie is now leading on campaigns to scrap the “hostile environment” and to get new rights for undocumented migrants. She is also the creator of Inclusive Book Club.

« April 2021 »