Margaret Atwood, Zadie Smith and Ian McEwan are among prominent authors offering readers the opportunity to name characters in their forthcoming novels through a charity auction designed to raise funds for survivors of torture. The initiative is part of Freedom from Torture's 10th anniversary literary festival, which assembles acclaimed writers and survivors to celebrate storytelling through poetry competitions and live readings at the London Library on 11 November 2026. According to The Guardian, the event aims to highlight the experiences of those who have endured torture while generating support for the charity's work.
More than 75 authors, poets, artists and illustrators are participating in the festival, contributing prizes that extend beyond the character-naming auctions. Additional offerings include original artwork by Quentin Blake, a rare volume of Mary Wollstonecraft stories illustrated by William Blake, and a book club visit from author Louise Doughty. A bookmark raffle will distribute more than 30 original designs by authors, each paired with a signed copy of the book that inspired it, with contributors including David Nicholls, Mark Haddon, Felicity Cloake, Nathan Filer, Nikesh Shukla, Sathnam Sanghera and Jeremy Vine.
The festival also incorporates a poetry competition centred on the experiences of torture survivors, with judging by Booker Prize-winning novelist Alan Hollinghurst and poet Rachael Allen. Four members from Write to Life, Freedom from Torture's creative writing group, will perform their own work at the London Library alongside acclaimed writers including Max Porter and poet John Hegley.
What is Write to Life?
Write to Life is the UK's longest-running refugee writers group and is believed to be the only one in the world dedicated exclusively to survivors of torture. According to Freedom from Torture, the group has worked with survivors from around the world for more than 25 years and publishes a digital collection of members' work every three months. Samuel Morton, the special events and philanthropy manager at Freedom from Torture, explained that the festival draws inspiration from this creative writing initiative.
They meet weekly and put pen to paper, and it's a brilliant way to support each other and to process the things that they've been through in their trauma, as well as their hopes for the future.
Why are authors supporting this cause?
Tracy Chevalier, the bestselling author of Girl with a Pearl Earring and The Last Runaway, has supported the charity's literary auctions since 2006 and has participated in four character-naming auctions. She initially harboured reservations about allowing strangers to select names for her fictional creations.
Names are important to me in my books. What I choose to call a character, who I'm going to live with in my head for the next few years, they need to mean something to me.Her first winning bidder was Laura Devine, whose name she assigned to a circus performer in her novel Burning Bright, and the pair have remained friends since. Chevalier has also transformed the name Dody Bienenstock into a character—a no-nonsense landlady in San Francisco—through another auction.
Chevalier emphasised the transformative power of storytelling for survivors, particularly those who have experienced severe trauma.
The story of your life is inside of you and for a lot of people it's not great. They've had really terrible experiences and that pressure builds and to not only let it out, but control how you let it out. [To say] this is my story and I'm going to tell it. I'm not going to have a journalist tell it for me or a famous writer. I'm speaking. And the incredible power of that, of writing it down, so that it gets out of you and on to the page, and then you can shape it and do with it what you will, or throw it away if you want.
Many authors have been motivated to participate by concerns regarding the deteriorating treatment of asylum seekers in Britain. Chevalier reflected on her own position as an immigrant.
I'm an immigrant myself, but nobody's ever questioned my right to be here. And that's because I'm white and American.She praised the festival for enabling survivors to communicate their experiences in their own words rather than through intermediaries.
What are the concerns about asylum policy?
The festival emerges amid escalating anxiety over asylum policies in Britain and across Europe, with Freedom from Torture warning that modifications to legal protections could endanger torture survivors by forcing their return to countries from which they fled. Samuel Morton criticised the weakening of safeguards and raised concerns over the expanding appetite across Europe to undermine legal protections, such as Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Poor-quality asylum decisions risk sending survivors back into the hands of their torturers. These protections are fundamental and must not be weakened for political convenience.
When will the festival take place?
The Worlds into Words Literary Festival is scheduled for 11 November 2026, bringing together survivors, authors and supporters to celebrate the power of storytelling and raise awareness of the challenges faced by those who have experienced torture.
