Tottenham Literature Festival 2023
Monday 13 - Sunday 19 November 2023
Join us at #TLF23 as we explore what it means to live as whole selves today.
I believed, and still do, that our bodies are our selves, that my soul is the voltage conducted through neurons and nerves, and that my spirit is my flesh.
Ta-Nehisi Coates
What does it mean to engage with our mind, body and spirit as one?
How can holistic perspectives on our lived experiences create new awareness?
Can embodied knowledge help us better understand what serves us?
Join us at TLF23, and a host of Black writers, poets and artists including Dr Ronx, Gary Younge, Liv Little, Bolu Babalola, Joëlle Avelino, Annabel Sowemimo, Kehinde Andrews, Chloe Pierre, Jimi Famurewa, Kandace Siobhan Walker, Claire Ratinon, Jay Lance, Lateshia Howell, Sister Woman Vegan, Ezra Lloyds-Jackson and Cecile Emeke, as we explore what it means to live as whole selves today.
EVENING TALKS: 16 & 17 NOVEMBER
Evening Talk: Showing Up for Love with Liv Little
Thursday 16 November | 19:00 – 20:30 | BGAC Theatre
Tickets from £5 (Pay What You Can)
How do our experiences impact our ability to show up to love and be loved?
Hear from the author, and founder of gal-dem, Liv Little, as she discusses love, friendship and the realities of modern life in her debut novel Rosewater. The story follows Elsie a Black queer poet, navigating love and loss while working long hours for minimum wage in South London. The event will include a performed extract from the novel.
Book your Tickets here.
Evening Talk: Love in the Black Imagination
Friday 17 November | 19:00 – 20:15 | BGAC Theatre
Tickets from £5 (Pay What You Can)
What part does fantasy and imagination play in the formation of our identities?
How do images and experiences of Black love and relationships shape our desires, as well as our ability to express and and receive love? Join Bolu Babalola and chair Sareeta Domingo, as we discuss the realities of Black love through the relationships with our cultural imagination.
FESTIVAL DAY PROGRAMME: SATURDAY 18 NOVEMBER
Family Programme: Dr Ronx & More!
Saturday 18 November | 10:00 – 14:00
Tickets £5 (Pay What You Can)
Join us for family fun at #TLF23!
With an amazing lineup of Black authors and illustrators sharing the magic of stories. From readings and author talks to workshops and performances TLF23 brings diverse children’s stories in fun and engaging ways. Headlined by award-winning trans non-binary emergency doctor and CBBC’s Operation Ouch presenter and activist Dr Ronx. More to be announced soon.
Book your Family Festival Morning tickets here.
Main Programme: Gary Younge & More!
Saturday 18 | 13:30 – 19:00 | BGAC
Tickets from £5 (Pay What You Can)
Join us for holistic views of the Black experience.
We’ll share perspectives on how we navigate the world today with a host of incredible Black authors in events ranging from talks, performances, workshops, and our books market – there’s lots to choose from. Talks in the BGAC Theatre will be BSL interpreted.
Book your Afternoon Festival tickets here.
TLF23 FILM PROGRAMME: MON 13 – FRI 17 NOVEMBER
“These are the untold stories that make up our nation.”
Steve McQueen
Join us at Bernie Grant Arts Centre as we screen a series of feature length and short films by Black British directors that tell the wide and varying experiences of Black people in Britain.
FEATURE FILM PROGRAMME
BGAC HUB
from £5 Pay What You Can
GONE TOO FAR (Cert 12) 88mins
7:00pm, Mon 13 November
Directed by Destiny Ekarargha, Gone Too Far! Is an utterly authentic slice of South London life and a fantastic, freewheeling urban comedy.
A MOVING IMAGE (Cert 15) 74mins
7:00pm, Tues 14 November
After a long absence, Nina returns home to Brixton, a rapidly gentrifying community in South London. She sets out to create the ultimate piece of art to explore her complex relationship with her community. In doing so she poses a tricky question – is she part of the problem or can she use her work to be part of the solution? Directed by Shola Amoo.
SECOND COMING (Cert 15) 105mins
7:00pm, Weds 15 November
Acclaimed playwright Tucker Green’s enigmatic tale plays both as an uncanny urban mystery and a meditation on motherhood, and is anchored by dreamlike naturalistic images and a highly nuanced central performance from Marshall.
BABYMOTHER (Cert 15) 77mins
7:00pm, Thurs 16 November
Babymother is a feminist triumph and widely considered the first Black British musical. Anjela Lauren Smith gives an outstanding performance as Neeta, a young mother who nurtures dreams of becoming a dancehall star with her two rude gyal friends. Directed by Julian Henriques.
BGAC THEATRE
from £5 Pay What You Can
LOVERS ROCK (Cert 15) 68mins
8:30pm, Fri 17 November
Lovers Rock tells a fictional story of young love at a blues party in 1980. The film is an ode to the romantic reggae genre called lovers rock, and to the black youth who found freedom and love in its sound at London house parties, at a time when they were unwelcome in white nightclubs. Directed by Steve McQueen.
Full film programme announced soon.
TOTTENHAM BIG READ: Dr Ronx, Amazing Bodies
As part of #TLF23, we are giving away free copies of AMAZING BODIES, by award-winning trans non-binary emergency doctor, CBBC’s Operation Ouch! presenter, and activist Dr Ronx. Children can pick up a copy of Dr Ronx’s AMAZING BODIES which will be available at BGAC during the festival week and in participating libraries.
Proudly delivered in partnership with The Reading Agency.
TLF OFFSITE @ MOKO: SUNDAY 19 NOVEMBER
Join our OFFSITE Sunday programme at new Tottenham based hi-fi bar and restaurant, Moko. Led by DJ Bradley Zero and Colour Factory founder Nathanael Williams (and sister venues with Jumbi Peckham), Moko celebrates the sounds and flavours of the Afro Caribbean diaspora.
Sunday 19 November | 14:00 – 16:00 | FREE
Offsite event @ Moko – Movement workshop: This workshop will focus on translating gestural language to movement, inspired by their research based on a film exploring Black bodies.
Sunday 19 November | 16:00 – 19:00 | FREE
Offsite event @ Moko – Literary Salon: sisterwoman’s Moko residency aims to provide a trifecta of nourishment: food to nourish the body, music to nourish the soul and conversation to nourish the mind. This salon will be a reflective space to close the festival and honour and nourish everybody’s contributions to the programme. We invite you to share personal work, bring along your favourite record or read from your favourite literary piece. Order off of sisterwoman’s soul food menu and grab a drink from the Moko bar. sisterwoman vegan is a plant based social enterprise exploring wellness through food. We create spaces for critical food conversation through supperclubs, food education and private catering.
https://www.mokotottenham.com/