I’m very pleased to announce that my 7th book, The After School Club, will be published by Akashic Books February 2013. Further details will soon be posted here, and big thanks to everyone who helped with this one!
A Story for Xmas…
•23/12/2011 • Leave a CommentI’ve just been sent a podcast reading of my sci-fi story SCARECROW, produced by Mathew Cunningham and the good people at the Kingston Writing School, based in Kingston University. I can’t tell you the exact timing of the story, but it’s directly after a drum and bass style tune about a third in.
Hope you all enjoy, and Happy Xmas.
To hear SCARECROW click here.
Colour Me English – Caryl Phillips – Review
•14/12/2011 • 1 CommentAlmost forgot to post this: my review of Colour Me English by Caryl Phillips, published in Wasafiri – click here.
The New Danger
•09/12/2011 • 5 CommentsThe New Danger
Even as recently as the 1980′s, it was said that Black footballers weren’t as skilled at the beautiful game as their white counterparts; some even went as far as to claim Black people were unable to play as well because of inherent flaws in their make-up – genetic or otherwise, I never could tell. These claims were made despite the presence of athletes like Garth Crooks and later, of John Barnes, both of whom had to endure having bananas thrown onto the pitch whenever they played, often by supporters of their own teams. The naysayers also neglected to mention Arthur Warton and Walter Tull, who had played for national teams in the mid-1880′s and and 1900′s respectively, and were the first Black professional footballers the world had seen.
In this first half of the millennium it would seem ludicrous to think that literature penned by Black writers might be seen in a similar fashion – especially with the successes of Zadie Smith, Andrea Levy and Ben Okri. Many would argue that these are the exceptions that prove the rule, that class plays a major part in their acceptance, and that diverse genres – sci-fi, romance, experimental fiction, thrillers and even crime – are relatively poor pickings for Black British writers. Some would say that that’s because Black writers are not sufficiently talented; others, like myself, that the issue is publishing and promotion of these authors, not quality. Of course, either of these views are difficult to prove without firm evidence . The fact of the matter is, without a frank discussion of the varied perspectives that includes honest input from experienced Black writers working within the industry, we’ll never get close to the truth.
Because for every Zadie Smith there’s a Precious Williams; for every Andrea Levy there’s an Yvvette Edwards; for every Ben Okri there’s a Chris Abani, and for every Mike Gayle there’s an Alex Wheatle. Heard of these writers? Some, but not all? I suggest you do your research before making any claims to know Black British writing, what we’re capable of and what we’re about. Listen to our experiences before making comments about the reasons why we might not be as lauded, test the waters to see if the playing field is as level as it is claimed. All these writers are valid, all their voices are necessary, of that there is no doubt. But if the argument is to begin with the assumption that Black writing is crippled by inability, as it was once claimed about Black footballers, then we haven’t moved very far from attitudes expressed in the 1800 and 1900′s after all.
N.B. – This post is written in response to comments made regarding two articles, one by Catherine Johnson in the Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/dec/05/where-are-britains-black-writers
The other by Alex Wheatle in the Independent:http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/the-race-problem-with-the-booker-2371944.html
In both articles I found the general public response unsettling to say the least. If this is truly how the majority readership see writing by people of colour than we have further to go than I ever believed.
TIME OUT REVIEW FOR LOOK TO THE SKY 10/10/11
•11/10/2011 • Leave a CommentTo read the review, check here.
Catch me on BBC Radio London 94.9FM…
•09/10/2011 • Leave a Comment… Tonight 9:30pm, Dotun Adebayo’s Black London show… I’ll be talking about the new play Look to the Sky among other things…
It’s almost time – LOOK TO THE SKY premier 5th October…
•29/09/2011 • Leave a Comment… And tours the nationally until November… Please click here for tour dates…
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A lonely, disused warehouse. Three teenagers, Doubt, Obs and Braun. One lost member of their group, the curious Inno. A search along dark corridors and winding stairs, that leads to a discovery, which will change their lives… In an abandoned building a group of young people are forced to confront the very thing that scares them most. Themselves. The mysterious and complicated culture of inner-city youth is exploded in this gripping new play, which breathes with a raw poetic language and a contemporary soundtrack. Part street vernacular, part theatrical tradition, at times harrowing and at others searingly true – this is a play about the world of the teenage mind. Novelist and writer Courttia Newland deploys an abstract, poetic narrative style to invigorate this 4-hander, one-act play. Shortlisted for The Alfred Fagon Awards 2010 “Newland reinvents the genre simply through his use of language. He offers us a haunting poetic landscape, a Beckettian world in which the cast quote Euripides and offer philosophical reflections on death. One has a sense here of a writer willing to take risks” |
