The annual festival explores and celebrates the work of black authors, poets and artists, writes Taro Kaneko

A Tottenham art centre will host a ‘black imagination’-themed literary festival in November.
Bernie Grant Arts Centre will be hosting its sixth-annual Tottenham Literature Festival to explore and celebrate the works of black authors, poets and artists.
Azieb Pool, founder and director of the Tottenham Literature Festival, said: “This year we spent weeks discussing potential themes because the world feels like it’s in such a fragile, polarised space.
“I want to create a space where black writers are free to discuss subjects like love, joy, and the multiplicities of the black experience.”
The festival’s theme for 2024 is ‘black imaginations’, which will explore through the lens of black authors how imaginations can powerfully transform stories into realities, “turning a world that can feel violent and overwhelming into a space of endless possibilities”.
The festival will host Bernardine Evaristo, the first black woman to win the Booker Prize in 2019; Zeinab Badawi, president of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at University of London; CBBC TV presenter Dr Ronx, plus many other poets and writers.
Attendees can get involved in interactive masterclasses on writing with award-winning writer and playwright Danielle Jawando and hands-on exercise workshops run by poet and artist Victoria Adukwei.
Victoria said: “Nothing could be closer to my heart than the question of how we dream and what our dreams make possible.”
Founded in 2019, Tottenham Literature Festival began as part of Bernie Grant Arts Centre’s commitment to championing marginalised voices and talent.
Azieb added: “I was tired of being on panels where I was the only black writer or where the only subject we were asked to speak on was racism.
“I created the Tottenham Literature Festival out of a frustration at attending countless literature festivals where black authors were either marginalised or minimised.”
The festival will begin on Monday, 11th November, and continue throughout the week. Tickets start at £10 with a range of free workshops and events.
For more information about the Tottenham Literature Festival:
Visit berniegrantcentre.co.uk/whats-on/tottenham-literature-festival
No news is bad news
Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.
The audiences they serve know less, understand less, and can do less.
If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, or one-off donation.
Choose the news. Don’t lose the news.
Monthly direct debit
More information on supporting us monthly
More Information about donations