Christine Otten & The Last Poets (2017 Event)

The Last Poets were formed in the US in the late 1960s, a period full of hope and a time when the Black Panthers were at the height of their power. Their performance poetry has influenced generations of musicians, securing them the title of ‘the founding fathers of hip-hop’. Coming from New York to Scotland for the first time for this event recorded live at the 2017 Edinburgh International Book Festival, The Last Poets - Umar Bin Hassan, Abiodun Oyewole and Baba Donn Babatunde - discuss their incredible lives with their friend and author Christine Otten, whose book is based on their story.

Loading the player... if your browser supports audio and video it should appear in a few moments.
Download MP3

Book Festival News

Book Festival reveals first author events for 2024 Book Festival reveals first author events for 2024
Sunday 14 April

Enjoying this event? You can help us produce more like it.

Donate

Share

Listen to more

Jen Hadfield Reading From My Vow Jen Hadfield Reading From My Vow Hear this talented young author read her new work From My Vow, part of our series of stories and podcasts on the theme of Elsewhere… Paul Durcan (2012 event) Paul Durcan (2012 event) 'If there were a prize for best reader of one’s own poems, Paul Durcan would probably win it hands down,' proclaimed the… Mark Walters with Pat Nevin at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Mark Walters with Pat Nevin at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Footballer Mark Walters is remembered for his wing wizardry, but while he’s revered by the Rangers faithful who cheered him for four trophy-laden years, he also endured racist chants – an issue he campaigns against now. In this event recorded live at … Jane Gardam (2013 event) Jane Gardam (2013 event) Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and twice the winner of a Whitbread Award, Jane Gardam also received a Heywood Hill Literary Prize for her distinguished literary career… Lionel Shriver Lionel Shriver American author, journalist and critic Lionel Shriver talks, in this 2007 event, about her new novel The Post-Birthday World which imagines two parallel lives for a woman… David Mitchell with Sam Amidon: The Music of Utopia Avenue (2020 Event) David Mitchell with Sam Amidon: The Music of Utopia Avenue (2020 Event) While the Summer of Love is about to unfold across the Atlantic, life in 1967 isn’t so easy for a young would-be musician in London’s shabby Charing Cross Road. Yet from this modest starting point, David Mitchell builds a joyful fictional biography of… Tom Parker Bowles Tom Parker Bowles The popular food critic and writer Tom Parker Bowles traveled the country meeting the weird and wonderful people and dishes which make up our culinary heritage and in this event he talks about his discoveries with his customary blend humour and wisdom… Jeanette Winterson (2010 event) Jeanette Winterson (2010 event) Legendary writer Jeanette Winterson inspired her audience with tremendous charm on 16 August, speaking movingly of happiness and the pursuit thereof. This brilliant event was full of intelligent questions from the audience and great energy from Winterson … Yasmin Alibhai-Brown and Bidisha (2015 Event) Yasmin Alibhai-Brown and Bidisha (2015 Event) Yasmin Alibhai-Brown is one of Britain’s most important commentators on multiculturalism: in Exotic England she describes ‘a curious nation’ that has developed thanks to its long history of immigration. Bidisha is a writer and human righ… John Boyne (2015 Event) John Boyne (2015 Event) Author of multi-million bestseller The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas, John Boyne has unleashed his next book for younger readers, Stay Where You Are and Then Leave. It tells the story of a boy's search for his father during the First World War. For adult…