We're proud to be media partners with the Stoke Newington Literary Festival (London, 5-7 June) for a second year running. Speakers include Fay Weldon, Will Self and Yasmin Alibhai-Brown - and below are some highlights featuring our own contributors. Visit stokenewingtonliteraryfestival.com for full programme information, plus booking and venue details.
Vron Ware & Reni Eddo-Lodge
1pm, Unitarian Chapel, Newington Green, Saturday 6 June - FREE
Scholar and activist Vron Ware is one of the pioneers into the study of race and culture in contemporary Britain. Her latest book Beyond The Pale looks at the political connections between black and white women and examines how white women have helped shape the history of racism. She speaks to journalist Reni Eddo-Lodge about the uncomfortable truths surrounding feminism and racism and looks at the issues that continue to challenge the modern feminist movement: the different meanings of femininity and womanhood, the historical and moral context of ‘whiteness’ and if we can achieve intersectional feminism.
Read Reni Eddo-Lodge's New Humanist columns
Read Vron Ware's New Humanist essay on British identity and the military
Michael Rosen & Neil Layton
2pm, William Patten School, Saturday 6 June - £5
Come along and meet writer Michael Rosen, illustrator Neal Layton and the very bossy Uncle Gobb. And some baked beans. And a genie who appears when you rub your nose. Michael and Neal will explain all about their brilliant new book Uncle Gobb and the Dread Shed through words, pictures and some very interesting facts that are mainly untrue.
Age 7+
Please note that all children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult.
Read Michael Rosen's New Humanist articles
Lynne Segal: Feminism & the Politics of Pleasure
5pm, Unitarian Chapel, Newington Green, Saturday 6 June - £5
Lynne Segal is Anniversary Professor of Psychology and Gender Studies in the Department of Psychosocial Studies at Birkbeck College. She is the author of landmark feminist texts, and her books include Out of Time, and the recently republished Straight Sex: Rethinking the Politics of Pleasure. She discusses modern feminist politics, ageing, desire and the continuing battle for women to define their own sexuality, with Dawn Foster.
Read Sally Feldman's review of Lynne Segal's Out of Time
Culture Crisis: Robert Hewison in conversation with Daniel Trilling
6pm, St Mary's Old Church, Saturday 6 June - FREE
Britain began the 21st century convinced of its Cool Britannia status with the promise that the creative industries would solve everything from national decline to crime. Yet despite huge investment, the audience for the arts remains a privileged minority. What went wrong? Leading historian Robert Hewison shows how creative Britain lost its way: from the Millennium Dome to the Olympics and beyond, he shows how culture became a commodity and how target-obsessed managers stifled creativity. In light of the 2015 election, Hewison argues urgent action to save the arts. Daniel Trilling is editor of New Humanist.
A People’s History of Gardening
1pm, St Mary's Old Church, Sunday 7 June -£4
Margaret Willes is a former publisher at the National Trust and her research into the Gardens of the British Working Class unearths horticultural miracles and the ingenious methods employed by determined, obsessive and eccentric workers to make their drab surroundings bloom, even if the land wasn’t their own. From the philanthropists who provided gardens for their workers to the alehouse syndicates and fierce rivalries between vegetable growers, she and architectural historian Ken Worpole look at the myriad ways in which the popular cultivation of plants, flowers and vegetables played – and continues to play – an integral role in everyday British life.
Read Ken Worpole's New Humanist articles
Asylum & Exile: The Hidden Voices of London
3pm, St Mary's Old Church, Sunday 7 June - £4
Award-winning writer and broadcaster Bidisha reveals the humanity, tragedy, and bravery of the individuals who have left everything behind to seek sanctuary in the UK. Though many used to be mathematicians, composers, criminologists and teachers, they now work illegally in unstable, unseen jobs. Their London life is one of trying to survive on £5 a day with little or no support. Despite this, their unerring humour, vivacity, talent, and will to survive is a testament to the blazing resilience of the human spirit. She discusses refugee stories with New Humanist’s Daniel Trilling, who has been reporting on refugees at Europe’s borders.
