DIL UK hosts a literary ‘Austenistan’ afternoon tea

Developments In Literacy (DIL) Trust UK hosted an afternoon tea on Sunday, 4th November at The Dorchester Hotel, Mayfair to mark the UK launch of Austenistan [Bloomsbury Publishing].

DIL UK is celebrating more than a decade of dedication to the cause of education and empowering children and their communities. Using DIL schools and teachers to roll out pilot scalable teaching methodologies and child centred learning, DIL has managed to positively impact 252,500 students in DIL, government and community schools and increased the enrolment of girls by 25% in some of the poorest and most remote areas of Pakistan. DIL UK also funds an art and wellbeing program for terminally ill children at Great Ormond Street Hospital, Guy’s and St Thomas’ and The Royal London Hospitals .

The occasion featured an Austenistan-themed panel [covered by the BBC] that included:

• A brilliant opening speech by author and Jane Austen descendent Rebecca Smith
• A rollicking discussion moderated by Georgina Godwin of British Council Arts
• Scintillating readings from Austenistan by Nida Elley and Laaleen Sukhera
• Insightful commentary on Pakistani women’s writing and contemporary ‘desi’ society by Faiza Sultan Khan at Bloomsbury Publishing and Melissa van der Klugt of The Times