When I first thought of doing this post it was going to be on the up and coming literature festivals that were taking place around London during autumn. Unfortunately if you were looking to hear from any of the wonderful authors with a black heritage from anywhere in the world you would have been very disappointed. That is not to say that Hampstead, Chiswick, Henley or the Woodstock litfest events did not have interesting authors taking part or lively and challenging discussions. It’s just that they were less likely (note the use of ‘less’ – not ‘unlikely’ – I was not there so cannot be so definitive) to have covered issues that get people like us (PLUs - to nick a Mitford-style abbreviations!) excited or engaged. While I do not want to suggest for a moment that an international book fair compares to a relatively local London litfest event, I do want to share with you the roster of authors that were at the Gothenburg Book Fair in Sweden recently, so that you can see that it is even more surprising that these London events cannot muster even one - just one, recently published black author. From Pettina Gappah’s blog.
Do you think that PLU read more widely? In a spat on the Guardian Books website recently it was mentioned that the reason that prizes like The Orange Prize (the women only literature prize) are so important is that women read books by both men and women, and men largely only read books by other men. That then is the reason why in prizes such as the Man Booker, men tend to dominate the long and short lists, because generally more people have read their books and have a view on them. Translate that argument on to books most likely to be read by PLU, and what do you imagine happens? I am so happy that Andrea Levy is on the short list for the Man Booker, but surely for example Aminatta Forna’s Memories of Love should have been on the longlist too? Is the issue a double-bind – fewer men and non-black people will have read and have an opinion on these books?
As the Jill Scott song says “I’m a positive person…” so I looked around for something else to write about and with October being Black History Month (BHM) in the UK I decided to check out a few of those up and coming events. And as you can see below, from a few clicks and a light touch trawl through a handful of websites I have found a rich feast of authors and events that I would be interested in attending. So as we move into the season when others will be asking ‘Isn’t BHM racist?’ or Do we still need BHM? Your answer should be something like ‘Somehow the variety of cultural skills, voices and opinions of PLU just don’t otherwise get an equal airing and that is why BHM month should still be an important part of the cultural calendar.‘
Let me know what book events you will be attending this month!
BHM in Brent
I always hear really good things about the events that take place in Brent and this year they have a collection of fantastic sounding, not to be missed events. You can see Precious Williams talking about her acclaimed memoir Precious on the 4 October. On the 6 October Ngamo Bishop will be discussing her book Spread Your Wings and Fly, which is the story of children who came to England from the Caribbean in the 1950s and 60s. Orange Prize nominee Monique Roffey will be discussing her book set in Trinidad – The White Woman on a Green Bicycle on 13 October. Here is the review that I did back in June: TWWTGB. On the 18 October there is an event called Banned Books, looking at why books are banned, this is a discussion on Toni Morrison’s Beloved.
During BHM Brent are also running a Children’s Book Week programme of events 4-10 October. The publishing editor of Tamarind Books, Patsy Isles, will be leading a books based session on identity called Where are my roots?
Check details here: Brent.
BHM in Southwark
First of all just to say that Southwark’s BHM brochure is illustrated by the beautiful portraits of the photographer Franklyn Rodgers. I understand that Southwark is hoping to show the photographs in the borough during BHM. Fingers crossed that it all comes about. The book of the photographs (The Philosophy of Strangers) is available from the online booksellers The Book Depository Though you might be able to get a copy from the publishers – Autograph. Or visit Franklyn’s website.
Southwark’s BHM book/spoken word events also include Roma Tearne talking about her book Brixton Beach which is an exploration of the effects of war and migration on a family from Sri Lanka who eventually settled in Brixton.
There is an event called Milestones, which is a celebration of the eightieth birthdays of the authors Kamau Braithwaite, Chinua Achebe and Derek Walcott. Their famous and recent works will be discussed on 27 October. Southwark has also organised a series of quizzes on black writing and authors for young people and senior citizens throughout October. Though, I have to say that I am most tempted by the event to learn Caribbean dominoes.
BHM in Kensington and Chelsea
To be fair the royal borough of K&C actually describes its BHM as a celebration of the arts and cultures of the communities of the area, and as such includes events and activities from outside black cultural sphere. None the less The October Lecture guest speaker is the Jamaican dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson, (4 October) reading from and talking about his work, answering questions and taking part in a book signing. I am very much looking forward to that.
Looking back looking forward is a spoken word performance event with a line-up of Black and Asian writers (22 October) Writers Malika Book and Anthony Joseph are taking part, as well as the poet/songwriters Speech Debelle and Ms Dynamite, and will be hosted by the writer and author Bidisha.
BHM in Tower Hamlets
In my own neck of the London woods the Ghanian author
Yaba Badoe will be talking about her book True Murder on 14 October at the architect David Adjaye’s beautiful Idea Store in Whitechapel. Watch a video of Yaba talking about her book here: Yaba interview
BHM in Leeds
Of course BHM events are happening all around the UK. So in order to be a little less London-centric in this post, I looked up what was taking place in Leeds. There 4 events literary events planned that will take place on the 30 and 31 October to celebrate Black British Poetry. The first is a creative writing workshop led by Bernadine Evaristo; a discussion/workshop on the history of Black British literature in Britain; a spoken word performance event, that includes many of the best British poets and whose work is published by Peepal Tree Press – publishers of the best in Caribbean writing. The last of the four events is a writing workshop led by Jacob Ross, who will be the editor of the next Inscribe/Peepal Tree Press anthology.
Check here for more details: Leeds.
