Penguin Talks, in partnership with Speakers for School, is a programme of free (currently virtual), creative talks for young people, giving them the opportunity to both hear from, and directly question, a world-renowned thinker, writer or influential figure from our family of authors.
The aim of Penguin Talks is to help equip young people for the future by introducing a new generation of readers to new ideas and perspectives, and broadening their understanding of issues which speakers feel to be particularly prevalent for this generation.
Upcoming events
Why Books Create Belonging, with Hafsa Zayyan and Zawe Ashton
Tuesday 8 June 10am
Dispute resolution lawyer and winner of the inaugural #Merky Books New Writers’ Prize, Hafsa Zayyan, joins author, actress, playwright and director, Zawe Ashton, to discuss why young people should have access to books that both reflect their world and expose them to the experiences of others.
Watch it live here.
Previous Virtual Penguin Talks
All our events are streamed on the dedicated Penguin Talks hub with live captions, and are available to watch again on Penguin Platform Youtube.
Read the books
Previous Penguin Talks
In the inaugural Penguin Talk, in September 2018, Professor Yuval Noah Harari joined comedian Russell Brand to discuss the changes and decisions which will impact young people in the not-so-distant future.
In December 2018 and to mark the publication of her memoir, Becoming, Michelle Obama paid a special visit to students in Islington, London, to about empowerment through education and the importance of self-belief.
In May 2019, Scarlett Curtis, author of Feminists Don't Wear Pink, and actress Saoirse Ronan visited a Dublin school to discuss what being a feminist means and the power that young people have in the fight for gender equality.
Fresh from her joint Booker win, in October 2019, Margaret Atwood and Ash Sarkar visited a college in Salford to discuss resistance, activism, and the literary legacy of The Handmaid's Tale and The Testaments.
In November 2019, Stormzy, international footballer Eniola Aluko, and #Merky Books authors Chelsea Kwakye, Ore Ogunbiyi and Derek Owusu visited Stormzy's old secondary school to talk about how to find your voice and use it.
In February 2020, Marie Forleo, entrepreneur and author of Everything is Figureoutable, and Cash Carraway, author of Skint Estate, visited a school in Oval, London to talk about success and failure, while trying to answer the question: can anyone be successful?
“Connecting readers with great writing and ideas is part of Penguin Random House’s DNA, rooted in our founder Allen Lane’s mission to make good books available to all. Building on this heritage, the ambition behind Penguin Talks is to ensure that young people from across the country are given access to these writers and feel inspired and empowered to engage in their debates.”
Tom Weldon, CEO, Penguin Random House UK
