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Ruchira-gupta
Ruchira Gupta
Holly bourne-2
Holly Bourne

I Kick and I Fly

Ruchira Gupta interviewed Holly Bourne

Saturday, 16 March 2024

12:00pm

1 hour

Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room

£8

Anti-sex-trafficking activist Ruchira Gupta talks about her debut novel for young adults, the story of an Indian teenager destined to be sold into the sex trade who sets out in search of a missing friend.

Heera is 14 and her father, like most living in the area, plans to sell her to the sex trade to pay off his debts. A chance meeting with a kung fu instructor makes her realise there is another way and she can use her body to protect herself and those she loves. When her best friend goes missing, she sets out on a rescue mission that will take her all the way to New York.

‘I have seen the courage of girls just like Heera to never give up. I have seen how kung fu became a central point for girls to suddenly gain confidence and like their own bodies again. I have seen the power of the women’s movement.’ Ruchira Gupta

‘A powerhouse of a debut . . . at once propulsive and enlightening, infuriating and inspiring. Heera’s story is a beacon of hope to a generation of young people trying to transform an unjust world.’ Gayle Forman, author of If I Stay

Gupta is a journalist and founder-president of Apne Aap Women Worldwide, an anti-sex-trafficking organisation that has helped thousands of girls and women in India leave a life of forced prostitution.  Among her awards are the French Ordre National du Mérite, the Clinton Global Citizen Award and the UN NGO CSW Woman of Distinction. Her documentary, The Selling of Innocents, won an Emmy for Outstanding Investigative Journalism. Here she talks to critically acclaimed young adult author Holly Bourne, whose books are inspired by her own work with young people and experiences of everyday sexism. Her latest book for young adults is You Could Be So Pretty.

Age: young adult

The Telegraph Festival media partner University of Oxford European Union Supported by the Delegation of the European Union to the UK Bodleian Libraries Festival cultural partner Oxford Martin School Festival ideas partner Oxford Mathematics Spanish Embassy The Spanish Embassy: supporters of the programme of Spanish literature and culture Cervantes Institute, London The Cervantes Institute, London elBullifoundation Embassy of Peru Embassy of Peru Embassy of Chile in the UK Embassy of Chile Iberia British Airways Embassy of the Dominican Republic Embassy of the Dominican Republic Institut Ramon Llull Promoting Catalan culture and language worldwide Blackwell’s Festival on-site and online bookseller Sotheby’s Symington Wines of the Douro Valley Compassion in World Farming Pasture to Plate Oxford Business College Where learning meets opportunity: education partners of the festival Old Bank Hotel Five-star hotel partners of The Oxford Collection Old Parsonage Hotel Five-star hotel partners of The Oxford Collection Oxford Brookes University Oxford International Centre for Publishing Gravita Accountants to the festival Confucius Institute Voltaire Foundation Felicity Bryan Associates Goldmoney Properties Princeton University Press Prestige publishing partner. Celebrating 25 years in Europe in 2024 Oxford University Department for Continuing Education Jewish Book Week Partner of Oxford Literary Festival Jim Mellon Miles Young Tim and Marion Stevenson Martin and Elise Becket Smith Ian and Carol Sellars David Isaac Mary and Cecil Quillen Supporters of the programme of American literature and culture Other donors Yale University Press London New College New College founded 1379 Exeter College Exeter College: college home of the festival. Founded 1314 Worcester College Worcester College founded 1714 Lincoln College Lincoln College founded 1427 Trinity College Trinity College founded 1555 Magdalen College Magdalen College founded 1458 Brasenose College Brasenose College founded in 1512 Reuben College Reuben College founded in 2019 Harris Manchester College Harris Manchester College founded 1893 Pusey House Founded 1884 New Dutch Writing Human Ecology Project MACROVegan Bear Ram Elk Festival Digital Strategy & Web Design Racalia Olive Oil Olive oil from Sicily Paul Bloomfield Ltd University of Oxford Alumni Office Alumni Office The Sheldonian Theatre Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies Oxford University Images Oxford University Images CAV Oxford The Litmus Partnership Schoolreaders Science Oxford Windrush Group The Oxford Times BBC Radio Oxford Local radio partner Conference Oxford Ox in a Box OX magazine Africa programme American programme

The Oxford Literary Festival sponsors, donors & partners

The Telegraph Festival media partner University of Oxford European Union Supported by the Delegation of the European Union to the UK Bodleian Libraries Festival cultural partner Oxford Martin School Festival ideas partner Oxford Mathematics Spanish Embassy The Spanish Embassy: supporters of the programme of Spanish literature and culture Cervantes Institute, London The Cervantes Institute, London elBullifoundation Embassy of Peru Embassy of Peru Embassy of Chile in the UK Embassy of Chile Iberia British Airways Embassy of the Dominican Republic Embassy of the Dominican Republic Institut Ramon Llull Promoting Catalan culture and language worldwide Blackwell’s Festival on-site and online bookseller Sotheby’s Symington Wines of the Douro Valley Compassion in World Farming Pasture to Plate Oxford Business College Where learning meets opportunity: education partners of the festival Old Bank Hotel Five-star hotel partners of The Oxford Collection Old Parsonage Hotel Five-star hotel partners of The Oxford Collection Oxford Brookes University Oxford International Centre for Publishing Gravita Accountants to the festival Confucius Institute Voltaire Foundation Felicity Bryan Associates Goldmoney Properties Princeton University Press Prestige publishing partner. Celebrating 25 years in Europe in 2024 Oxford University Department for Continuing Education Jewish Book Week Partner of Oxford Literary Festival Jim Mellon Miles Young Tim and Marion Stevenson Martin and Elise Becket Smith Ian and Carol Sellars David Isaac Mary and Cecil Quillen Supporters of the programme of American literature and culture Other donors Yale University Press London New College New College founded 1379 Exeter College Exeter College: college home of the festival. Founded 1314 Worcester College Worcester College founded 1714 Lincoln College Lincoln College founded 1427 Trinity College Trinity College founded 1555 Magdalen College Magdalen College founded 1458 Brasenose College Brasenose College founded in 1512 Reuben College Reuben College founded in 2019 Harris Manchester College Harris Manchester College founded 1893 Pusey House Founded 1884 New Dutch Writing Human Ecology Project MACROVegan Bear Ram Elk Festival Digital Strategy & Web Design Racalia Olive Oil Olive oil from Sicily Paul Bloomfield Ltd University of Oxford Alumni Office Alumni Office The Sheldonian Theatre Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies Oxford University Images Oxford University Images CAV Oxford The Litmus Partnership Schoolreaders Science Oxford Windrush Group The Oxford Times BBC Radio Oxford Local radio partner Conference Oxford Ox in a Box OX magazine Africa programme American programme