PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS HERE: https://www.bl.uk/events/bessie-smith-empress-of-the-blues#
With songs performed by Nona Hendryx
This is an online event. Bookers will be sent a link in advance giving access and will be able to watch at any time for 48 hours after the start time.
The British Library and Faber Social present a celebration of Bessie Smith, pioneering blues singer and one of the biggest stars of the 1920s and 30s.
As a young black girl growing up in Glasgow, writer and poet Jackie Kay found in Bessie someone with whom she could identify and who she could idolise. Kay talks to award winning novelist Bernardine Evaristo about new her book on Bessie's life, which mixes enthralling biography with fiction, poetry and prose.
Plus a selection of Bessie Smith’s songs performed by special guest singer Nona Hendryx, most famously of the group Labelle.
Bessie’s life was as tempestuous as it was extraordinary. Born in Tennessee in 1894 and orphaned by the age of nine, Smith sang on street corners before becoming a big name in travelling shows alongside the likes of Ma Rainey. In 1923 she made her first recording for a new start-up called Columbia Records. It sold 780,000 copies..
Smith’s life was notoriously difficult: she drank pints of ‘bathtub gin’, got into violent fist fights, spent huge sums of money and had passionate love affairs with men and women. She once single-handedly fought off a chapter of the Ku Klux Klan..
Her gorgeous and powerful voice, unapologetic songs and bold personality have been an inspiration to many ever since.
Buy your copy of Bessie Smith by Jackie Kay at checkout for £11.98 (including UK postage) and watch the event at no extra cost.*
Jackie Kay was born in Edinburgh. She has been the third modern Makar, the National Poet of Scotland, since 2016. A poet, novelist and writer of short stories, she has enjoyed great acclaim for her work for both adults and children. Her first novel Trumpet won the Authors' Club First Novel Award and the Guardian Fiction Prize. She is also the author of three collections of stories with Picador, Why Don't You Stop Talking, Wish I Was Here, and Reality, Reality; two poetry collections, Fiere and Bantam; and her memoir, Red Dust Road. She is Professor of Creative Writing at Newcastle University, and divides her time between Glasgow and Manchester, where she is currently Chancellor of the University of Salford.
Bernardine Evaristo is the author of eight books and numerous other works that span the genres of verse fiction, short fiction, poetry, essays, literary criticism, and radio and theatre drama. Bernardine’s novel Girl, Woman, Other won the Booker Prize 2019, and in 2020 it won the British Book Award’s Author of the Year and Fiction Book of the Year, as well as the Indie Book Award for Fiction. She is currently curating Black Britain: Writing Back a new book series with Penguin UK re-publishing books which have been out of circulation. She is Professor of Creative Writing at Brunel University London and lifetime Vice President of the Royal Society of Literature
Nona Hendryx is one of the great American music artists of the last six decades. A founding member of Patti LaBelle & the Bluebelles, and then of the iconic funk-rock group Labelle, who racked up three gold albums and worldwide platinum hit with the 1975 single “Lady Marmalade”. Her solo career has never ceased innovating and has included eight studio albums, collaborations with the likes of Prince, Peter Gabriel, Talking Heads and more, resulting in several top 10 hits and a Grammy nomination. Hendryx also produces, teaches and writes for theatre and film.
Supported by the Eccles Centre for American Studies at the British Library
This event is a partnership between the British Library and Faber Social. Faber Social is now an events-only programme, bringing together artists from the worlds of books and music. To keep informed of all future Faber Social events become a Faber Member for free at faber.co.uk/members.
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*Please note. Price with non-UK postage is £14.98. Books purchased will be dispatched within 7 days after the event by our bookseller Pages of Hackney, with whom we will share your address. Please ensure your address is up to date on your British Library account.
Details
Name:Bessie Smith: Jackie Kay in conversation with Bernardine EvaristoWhere:Online
When:Thu 18 Feb 2021, 19:30 - 20:45Price:Full Price: £5.00
Ticket plus book: £11.98
Book with non-UK postage and Ticket: £14.98
Enquiries:+44 (0)1937 546546
boxoffice@bl.uk