| Reading Bass Culture |
On 26 April 2018, Linton Kwesi Johnson read from a selection of his poetry and discussed with Professor Paul Gilroy the inter-generational and transatlantic relationships that had nurtured it. |
Linton Kwesi Johnson, Paul Gilroy, Louisa Layne |
16 May, 2018 |
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| 'Art and Attunement', by Professor Rita Felski, University of Virginia and Southern Denmark |
In this talk Rita Felski reported at new research on how we engage with works of art across a broad range (including cat videos) and considered the puzzling question of why we are drawn by some pieces of music, art and literature, and not by others. |
Rita Felski |
19 December, 2017 |
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| Selma Dabbagh and Courttia Newland on writing and community |
Writers Selma Dabbagh and Courttia Newland read from their work, and discuss why they write, who they write for, their imagined audiences, and how their writing relates to their identities. |
Selma Dabbagh, Courttia Newland |
25 August, 2017 |
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| M. NourbeSe Philip on the haunting of history |
M. NourbeSe Philip reads from She Tries Her Tongue, Her Silence Softly Breaks (1988) and Zong! (2008) as she describes her poetic development. |
M NourbeSe Philip, Marina Warner, Matthew Reynolds, Elleke Boehmer |
25 August, 2017 |
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| Editors and contributors, The Cambridge History of Black and Asian British Writing |
Profs Susheila Nasta and Mark Stein speak about the genesis of their new Cambridge History project, Dr Gail Low discusses the networks and institutions of Caribbean-British writing. |
Susheila Nasta, Mark Stein, Gail Low, Henghameh Saroukhani, Florian Stadtler |
25 August, 2017 |
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| Aminatta Forna on writing memory and trauma in The Memory of Love |
Aminatta Forna gives a reading from her award-winning novel, The Memory of Love (2010), and discusses it with Prof. Ankhi Mukherjee. She talks about the psychology of war and healing after conflict, and about love, betrayal and complicity. |
Aminatta Forna, Ankhi Mukherjee |
25 August, 2017 |
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| Nadifa Mohamed on travelling, home and belonging in Black Mamba Boy |
Nadifa Mohamed reads from and discusses her debut novel, Black Mamba Boy (2010), based on her father’s travels across the Horn of Africa before settling in Britain. |
Nadifa Mohamed, Kate Wallis |
25 August, 2017 |
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| D-Empress Dianne Regisford presents ‘Hersto-rhetoric? Na so today!!!’ |
D-Empress Dianne Regisford presents a performance installation that explores the notion of the liberated woman from an African feminist perspective. |
D-Empress Dianne Regisford, Rev J, Erica Lombard |
25 August, 2017 |
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| Daljit Nagra on voice and identity in Look We Have Coming to Dover! |
Daljit Nagra reads from and discusses his celebrated debut collection, Look We Have Coming to Dover! (2007). In conversation with Dr Rachael Gilmour and the audience, he speaks about how and why he writes his poetry, and the readers for whom he writes. |
Daljit Nagra, Rachael Gilmour |
25 August, 2017 |
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| Bernardine Evaristo on writing Britain’s Black histories |
In conversation with Dr Zoe Norridge and Marsha Hutchinson, Bernardine Evaristo reads from and discusses her remarkable verse novel, The Emperor’s Babe (2001), which tells the story of a African girl growing up in Roman London in 211 AD. |
Bernardine Evaristo, Zoe Norridge, Marsha Hutchinson |
25 August, 2017 |
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| Kamila Shamsie on writing history in A God in Every Stone |
Author Kamila Shamsie reads from her 2014 novel A God in Every Stone, and discusses it with Prof. Elleke Boehmer and the audience. |
Kamila Shamsie, Elleke Boehmer |
25 August, 2017 |
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| Readers and Readings |
Prof. Elleke Boehmer and Dr Erica Lombard consider how our reading experiences are shaped by various factors, from publishers’ decisions about book covers to the text itself. |
Elleke Boehmer, Erica Lombard |
25 August, 2017 |
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