Event overview
Goldsmiths Writers' Centre presents...Black British Historical Fiction: S. I. Martin and Catherine Johnson
As Toni Morrison’s remarkable model of ‘rememory’ reinserts African presences back into history and literature, so have Black British writers S.I. Martin and Catherine Johnson produced ground-breaking historical fiction for adults and young people with narratives that strikingly (re)present black characters’ lives at the centre of Britain’s past.
Pioneering broadcaster Martin’s acclaimed novel, Incomparable World (1996) charts the mis-adventures of Buckram, a former slave and soldier who has fled the United States after the American War of Independence to find a new life in 18th-century Georgian London. Catherine Johnson’s Freedom (2018) nominated for the Carnegie Medal and winner of the Little Rebels Children’s Book Award in 2019, tells the story of Nathaniel, brought from Jamaica to England by owners who have sold his mother and sister.
Real historical figures and events including Olaudah Equiano, Granville Sharp, and the story of the enslavement ship the Zong are woven into Nat’s story as he evades his masters and dreams of buying his family’s freedom. You will hear both writers discuss the importance of this literary genre for Black writers and readers and how retrieving history imaginatively leads not only to page-turning fiction for all ages but also opens up new perspectives on the past.
Dates & times
| Date | Time | Add to calendar |
|---|---|---|
| 3 Feb 2021 | 5:00pm - 6:00pm |
Accessibility
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