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Friday, 19 December 2025
Writing masterclass / workshop: £5 / 5 PM
In Conversation: £5 / 7 PM
Ticket for both: £8
Mandana Hendessi (OBE) is a writer and women’s rights advocate whose thirty years in gender equality and humanitarian work have taken her from the corridors of Westminster to the crowded refugee camps of the Middle East and the dimly lit cells of Afghan prisons.
At 5pm, Mandana will hosting a workshop for all writers or would-be writers.
At 7pm, Folkestone-based writer and theatre director Giles Croft discusses Afsana Press’ new book, The Almond Garden of Kabul, with author Mandana Hendessi.
The evening is organised by Beton Collective, in collaboration with Afsana Press, the publisher of the novel. Mandana will be signing books during the event.
Synopsis:
They called it Badam Bagh – the Almond Garden. But inside Kabul’s central women’s prison, nothing bloomed. Nothing except rage. When Niloofar, a teenage inmate, sets herself on fire, the authorities call it a suicide attempt. But two women – Sultan, a feared inmate who once killed her abusive husband, and Setara, a teacher and gifted artist imprisoned for a crime she did not commit – begin to suspect that the fire was not just a tragedy, but a protest.
“An astonishing book. Wonderfully written, stories beautifully told. In the darkest of places, there is also light and love, defiance and dignity. You will not forget the remarkable women of Badam Bagh prison. And you shouldn’t – because their story is true.”
—Lyse Doucet, CM OBE, BBC’s Chief International Correspondent
Friday, 19 December 2025
Writing masterclass / workshop: £5 / 5 PM
In Conversation: £5 / 7 PM
Ticket for both: £8
Mandana Hendessi (OBE) is a writer and women’s rights advocate whose thirty years in gender equality and humanitarian work have taken her from the corridors of Westminster to the crowded refugee camps of the Middle East and the dimly lit cells of Afghan prisons.
At 5pm, Mandana will hosting a workshop for all writers or would-be writers.
At 7pm, Folkestone-based writer and theatre director Giles Croft discusses Afsana Press’ new book, The Almond Garden of Kabul, with author Mandana Hendessi.
The evening is organised by Beton Collective, in collaboration with Afsana Press, the publisher of the novel. Mandana will be signing books during the event.
Synopsis:
They called it Badam Bagh – the Almond Garden. But inside Kabul’s central women’s prison, nothing bloomed. Nothing except rage. When Niloofar, a teenage inmate, sets herself on fire, the authorities call it a suicide attempt. But two women – Sultan, a feared inmate who once killed her abusive husband, and Setara, a teacher and gifted artist imprisoned for a crime she did not commit – begin to suspect that the fire was not just a tragedy, but a protest.
“An astonishing book. Wonderfully written, stories beautifully told. In the darkest of places, there is also light and love, defiance and dignity. You will not forget the remarkable women of Badam Bagh prison. And you shouldn’t – because their story is true.”
—Lyse Doucet, CM OBE, BBC’s Chief International Correspondent