The Live Poetry Book Club with Shagufta K. Iqbal and Liz Ikamba

Welcome to The Live Poetry Book Club, an evening summer book club exploring and celebrating live readings and performances from writers and artists of colour.

For those who love nothing more than reading a good book (ones that move us and inspire us and allow us to see the world differently) and for those who adore listening to a writer bring their work into being through performance, at each of these unique events we will listen to a musician perform, to the poet read their work in person, and then take their collections home to enjoy afterwards.

On 20th July we welcome Shagufta K. Iqbal. Shagufta is an award-winning writer, filmmaker, TEDx speaker and workshop facilitator based in Bristol. Longlisted for the Jerwood Compton Poetry Fellowship and named one of Asiana Magazine’s favourite British Asian poets, she is the founder of The YoniVerse Poetry Collective and Kiota Bristol. Her debut poetry collection Jam Is For Girls, Girls Get Jam (Burning Eye Books) was praised as “a socio-political masterclass” (Nikesh Shukla) and “heart-wrenching and relatable” (gal-dem). Her children’s book Bibi and Rumi (HarperCollins) celebrates wonder, connection and cultural heritage. Commissioned by the V&A, Tate Lates, Southbank Centre, WOMAD Festival, and CBBC, her poetry film Borders — a meditation on displacement and resilience — has won multiple international awards.

We will also be joined by musician Liz Ikamba. Born in Congo (DRC) and raised in the UK, Liz grew up immersed in an eclectic range of western and global music - from African choral traditions, rumba and soukous to pop, hip hop and folk. Her debut EP MAMA honours her late parents, with the title track (in Lingala) celebrating her mother Georgina’s story, who went to Congo to live and work as a midwife, where she met Liz’s father Wangoy. Her music is a unique blend of multilingual storytelling, groove based expression and community connection.

6:00 pm - 7:30 pm, Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution. You can book now via the ticket link on this page.

So come, one and all, join us at the BRLSI for this final very special evening of language.

Tickets are just £5 and include a free poetry book of the writer's work and free refreshments.

Children and babies welcome, but please be aware content won't be censored and may not be age appropriate.

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EMBLAZE illuminates powerful stories. They are an imprint of Bath Spa University's Paper Nations, celebrating the talent and creativity of writers of colour and rural writers across the South West by nurturing inclusive communities and providing support to help their voices shine.

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