In 2003, in response to the imminent invasion of Iraq, Marina Cantacuzino embarked on a personal project collecting stories in words and portraits of people who had lived through violence, tragedy or injustice and sought forgiveness rather than revenge. As a result, Marina founded, The Forgiveness Project, a UK-based charity that works with the real stories of victims and perpetrators of crime and violence to explore how ideas around forgiveness, reconciliation and restorative justice can be used to impact positively on people’s lives. The Forgiveness Project has no religious or political associations.
Marina is also the author of several books. Her most recent book Forgiveness: An Exploration was published in 2022 by Simon and Schuster. Other books include Forgiveness Is Really Strange, co-authored with psychologist, Dr Masi Noor, (Singing Dragon, 2018); The Forgiveness Project: Stories for a Vengeful Age (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2015); Till Break of Day: Meeting the challenge of HIV and AIDS at London Lighthouse (Heinemann, 1992). She also created The F Word Podcast, and has hosted Forgiveness: Stories from the Frontline for BBC Radio 4.
In addition, Marina is a regular tutor at the residential creative writing course, the Arvon foundation.
