July has been a showcase of creativity, connection and cultural storytelling at Collective Wisdom. We’ve been working with clients across arts, literature, heritage and history, including the announcement of this year’s English PEN Pinter Prize, the relaunch of Namita Gokhale’s bold debut novel, and supporting The Portico Library’s exciting redevelopment journey.
Festival season is here! And we had an amazing time at ALSO Festival, nestled in the beautiful 17th century setting of Compton Verney, Warwickshire. The jam-packed programme featured an array of events and activities across the world of music, arts, science, literature, psychology and comedy, with something to suit all ages. Highlights included multi-instrumentalists Molotov Jukebox, Miranda Sawyer discussing her ‘Soundtrack to My Life’, a surreal tug of war and Dom Joly unpacking conspiracy theories. The team at Collective Wisdom hosted journalists at the festival resulting in an depth piece in Forbes and a in Voice Mag. In the lead up to the festival CondeNast Traveller included ALSO in a roundup of the best festivals to visit, as did Luxury London on the best wellness festivals and Daily Telegraph identified it as part of a trend among Gen Z for more chilled out festivals.
July saw English PEN’s announcement of the 2025 PEN Pinter Prize, which very deservedly went to writer Leila Aboulela. The award-winning author grew up in Khartoum, Sudan and moved to Aberdeen in 1990. She is the author of six novels among them River Spirit, The Translator, Minaret and Lyrics Alley. This year’s judges praised Aboulela for her ‘nuanced and rich perspectives on themes that are vital in our contemporary world: faith, migration, and displacement’, calling her writing ‘a balm, a shelter, and an inspiration’. We worked with English PEN on the announcement securing coverage worldwide including outlets such as The Guardian, The Bookseller, The Indian Express and Publishing Perspectives. Leila Aboulela will receive the award at a ceremony at the British Library on 10 October 2025, where she will deliver an address and announce this year’s Writer of Courage.
We had the privilege with working with Namita Gokhale on the relaunch of her debut novel, Paro: Dreams of Passion. Originally published in 1984, the book is set in the world of the Indian upper-class in the late 70’s and early 80’s and follows the life of the heroic temptress, Paro. Since its original publishing, the book has received worldwide recognition and Gokhale has gone on to write another 25 fiction and non-fiction books. Namita is also well known for being a founder and co-director of Jaipur Literature Festival in India, now known as one of the most prestigious literature gatherings in the world. The re-launch of the book was celebrated in London’s acclaimed Indian restaurant, Darjeeling Express, with a select group of friends, family, publishers and press in attendance, hosted by the restaurant’s owner, the redoubtable Asma Khan.
Our client Joshua Levine featured in the brand-new docuseries ‘The Secret Life of Trees’ on Channel 5. In episode 2, the historian and author discussed London’s oldest living tree and the many historical moments the tree has survived, whilst exploring what ancient trees teach us about urban resilience and what’s quietly at stake when we lose them, in light of the Sycamore Tree loss. Joshua also discussed the City’s ancient plane tree on BBC Radio London’s Robert Elms Show. Watch The Secret Life of Trees here. (Episode 2)
