Orwell and Spain: The Birth of a Dystopia

Writer and dramatist Michael Crowley, author of the forthcoming ‘Remember Me to
My Comrades: Letters and Diaries of the International Brigade’, examines the
influence of George Orwell’s participation in the Spanish Civil War on his writing and
politics, and in particular on his two most important works, ‘Animal Farm’ and
‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’. Michael shows how Orwell’s Spanish experience informed
his preoccupation with the themes of language subversion, the corruption of power,
and the loss of humanity throughout his subsequent writing.

Michael Crowley is a writer, dramatist and freelance journalist. He is author of the
forthcoming ‘Remember Me to My Comrades: Letters and Diaries of the International
Brigade’ as well as two novels, two collections of poetry, non-fiction, and numerous
plays, and is artistic director of the Brutish Multitude Theatre Company. Michael’s
passion is historical fiction, and he volunteers at a local museum. He was formerly a
youth justice worker in Greater Manchester.