Black Joy

Black Joy

This August we celebrate sensational writing by Black authors. From poetry and essays to fiction and memoirs, this series champions writing and writers which speak to the cultures and experiences of those within Black communities, both at home and across the pond. Where stories of perseverance, prejudice and persecution sit hand-in-hand with tales of joy, love, family, friendships and cultural pride.

 

Kalynn Bayron & Renée Watson: YA Superstars from Across the Pond

Age 12+

Sunday 14 August 16:30 - 17:30

Kalynn Bayron & Renée Watson: YA Superstars from Across the Pond Book
  • Attend in person
  • Watch online
Join award-winning US authors Kalynn Bayron (Cinderella is Dead, This Wicked Fate) and Renée Watson (Piecing Me Together, Love is a Revolution) in conversation with the founders of Black Girls’ Book Club, Melissa Cummings-Quarry and Natalie A Carter...
 

Malika Booker, Kayo Chingonyi, Salena Godden & Lemn Sissay: The Fire This Time

Sunday 14 August 17:00 - 18:00

Malika Booker, Kayo Chingonyi, Salena Godden & Lemn Sissay: The Fire This Time Book
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  • Watch online
  • Captioned
When Lemn Sissay’s The Fire People was published in 1998 it brought a group of talented Black British poets to public attention. 24 years on it is being republished. Kayo Chingonyi’s anthology More Fiya nods to the importance of Sissay’s original...
 

Margo Jefferson: The Art of Self-Construction

Sunday 14 August 20:15 - 21:15

Margo Jefferson: The Art of Self-Construction Book
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The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Negroland returns with Constructing a Nervous System, a memoir that is as far-ranging as it is intimate. The book takes its original form from moments of Margo Jefferson’s life that trouble her and restore her....
 

Deesha Philyaw: Between Herself and God

Tuesday 16 August 18:15 - 19:15

Deesha Philyaw: Between Herself and God Book
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Black girls and women take some time off from being on their Sunday best behaviour in The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw. In these refreshing short stories, female lives are seasoned with desire, despite the restrictions imposed by...
 

Simon Woolley: Shaking Up the Establishment

Thursday 18 August 14:30 - 15:30

Simon Woolley: Shaking Up the Establishment Book
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When Simon Woolley created Operation Black Vote in 1996, he inspired hundreds of thousands of people to participate in the democratic process. Raised on an impoverished estate in Leicester, he has become a political force to be reckoned with, the first...
 

Ayanna Lloyd Banwo & Okwiri Oduor: The New Magical Realism

Sunday 21 August 18:15 - 19:15

Ayanna Lloyd Banwo & Okwiri Oduor: The New Magical Realism Book
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Mothers and daughters, curses and ghosts, all-conquering love – discover two debuts that cast a fantastical spell on readers. When We Were Birds, by Ayanna Lloyd Banwo, sees a daughter inherit her mother’s ability to speak to the dead. In Okwiri...
 

Kehinde Andrews, Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff & Marcus Ryder: A Celebration of Black Lives

Tuesday 23 August 20:00 - 21:00

Changed Kehinde Andrews, Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff & Marcus Ryder: A Celebration of Black Lives Book
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George Floyd’s murder by a white police officer in the US sparked Britain’s largest wave of protests against racism. Black British Lives Matter is a collection of essays gathered by equality advocate Marcus Ryder and his co-editor Lenny Henry. They...
 

Eloghosa Osunde: Outlawed in Lagos

Saturday 27 August 18:15 - 19:15

Eloghosa Osunde: Outlawed in Lagos Book
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What does one do with the forgotten people in a modern city? If you’re Eloghosa Osunde, you place them front and centre in your hotly-anticipated debut novel – to stunning effect. Vagabonds! boldly explores the transient spaces in contemporary...
 

Candice Carty-Williams: Queen of Contemporary Fiction

Sunday 28 August 10:30 - 11:30

Candice Carty-Williams: Queen of Contemporary Fiction Book
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Candice Carty-Williams’s joyous and vital debut Queenie had readers falling in love with its fabulous and flawed protagonist, and her latest work promises nothing less. Award-winning writer and creator of the Guardian and 4th Estate BAME Short Story...
 

Scottish BPOC Writers Network: Right Here, Now

Sunday 28 August 18:15 - 19:15

Scottish BPOC Writers Network: Right Here, Now Book
  • Attend in person
The Scottish Black and People of Colour (BPOC) Writers Network proudly brings together writers from across Scotland, celebrating the diversity of expression and style of these communities. Tonight, join five outstanding members from the network who...