RAP Party @The London Library: Jazz (In person)
Poet and playwright Inua Ellams brings his exhilarating live literature phenomenon, the R.A.P Party, back to The London Library for a nostalgic, no-clutter, no-fuss, evening of music and words in partnership with the RSL. This time, as the city gears up for its annual jazz festival, we’re getting in on the act by bringing you a line-up of jazz-loving writers, their jazz-inflected writing and their favourite jazz tunes. Our line-up includes: Inua Ellams, Jumoké Fashola, Soweto Kinch, Hannah Lowe, André Marmot, Katie Melua, Caleb Azumah Nelson, Derek Owusu, Ami Rao, Miryam Solomon, Jack Underwood and Varaidzo plus music from RAP Party regular, DJ Tone.
Twelve writers + a DJ = the best night out you’ll ever have in a library – or anywhere, for that matter.
'A truly fluid literary event not just mingling poetry and music together seamlessly, but also bringing different tribes of poets: ages, races, gender, styles together. You will be moved in your heart and in your head.’— Roger Robinson
Inua Ellams is a Nigerian-born, UK-based poet, playwright and performer who has written for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre and the BBC. His latest play was an adaptation of Chekhov’s Three Sisters set in Nigeria, staged at the National Theatre. The Actual, his fifth poetry release and first full collection, was published in 2020 by Penned in the Margins.
Jumoké Fashola is an award-winning radio and television broadcaster and journalist, jazz singer and actress. She presents J to Z on BBC R3 and Sunday Breakfast - Inspirit for BBC Radio London. As a vocalist, she has performed at the Royal Albert Hall alongside Dionne Warwick and with Bobby McFerrin at the Meltdown Festival. She is the creator and host of the monthly Jazz Verse Jukebox at Hoxton Hall.
Soweto Kinch is an award-winning alto-saxophonist, composer, MC, poet and host of BBC Radio 3’s ‘Round Midnight. He has won, amongst many other awards, two MOBOs, two Urban Music Awards and a Mercury Prize nomination. His most recent album is White Juju (Live) a fusion of jazz, hip hop and rap, recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra, in response to turbulent times.
Hannah Lowe is a poet, memoirist and academic. Her latest book, The Kids, a Poetry Book Society Choice for Autumn, won the Costa Poetry Award and the Costa Book of the Year, 2021. Her first poetry collection Chick (Bloodaxe, 2013) won the Michael Murphy Memorial Award for Best First Collection. In 2014, she was named as one of 20 Next Generation poets.
André Marmot has been active professionally in music since 2007 as an agent, musician, promoter and label owner, specialising in the links between African, jazz and global electronic music. His recent, debut book, Unapologetic Expression, is a history of the new UK jazz wave, encapsulating its revolutionary spirit and tracing its foundations to birth of the genre itself.
Katie Melua is a singer, songwriter and composer who was born in Tblisi, Georgia and came to the UK as a child. She is one of Britain's most successful musical artists, having sold in excess of 11 million albums and received over 56 platinum awards. Her studio albums include Call Off The Search, Piece By Piece, In Winter and her latest album, Love and Money, is out now.
Caleb Azumah Nelson is a British-Ghanaian writer and photographer. His first novel, Open Water, won the Costa First Novel Award and Debut of the Year at the British Book Awards, and was a number-one Times bestseller. His music-infused second novel is Small Worlds. He was selected as a National Book Foundation '5 under 35' honoree by Brit Bennett.
Derek Owusu is a writer and poet. He is the editor of Safe: On Black British Men Reclaiming Space, and the author of That Reminds Me – which was awarded the 2020 Desmond Elliot Prize – and Losing the Plot. He was named as one of Granta’s Best British Novelists 2023.
Ami Rao is an award winning British-American writer who has lived and worked in Asia, Europe, North America, the Caribbean and, most recently, London, which inspired her latest novel, Boundary Road. Her previous novel, David and Ameena is set in the New York jazz scene. When not writing, Ami can be found reading, listening to classical music or dabbling in jazz.
Miryam Solomon, is a Swedish-born Eritrean singer-songwriter who blends jazz and folk textures with African poly-rhythms, lyrical wit and a distinctive vocal style. Her approach to song writing is influenced by a childhood hobby of writing short stories and tales. She released her debut EP Evergreen in 2014, Magnolia in 2017 and her most recent EP is Romance.
Jack Underwood is the author of two poetry collections, Happiness and A Year in the New Life, and a non-fiction work, Not Even This, about poetry, uncertainty and parenthood. He is also critic, a writer of short fiction, and Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Goldsmiths College.
Varaidzo is a contributor to the bestselling anthology The Good Immigrant and the romance anthology Who’s Loving You. Her short story ‘Bus Stop’ was shortlisted for the Guardian 4th Estate Prize 2018. Her debut novel, Manny and the Baby, was published earlier this year and is partially set in the smoky Soho jazz clubs of 1930s London.
Tone is a DJ and broadcaster. Her show, Diaspora Distins on Oroko Radio showcases talent from the African continent and the global black diaspora and she has also appeared on Rinse, Foundation FM, Radio 1Xtra and more. Live, she has played All Points East, Afropunk, No Signal and opened for Kokoroko, Ragz Original, Superjazzclub and more.
The Royal Society for Literature, founded in 1820, is the UK’s charity for the advancement of literature, acting as a voice for the value of literature, engaging people in appreciating literature, and encouraging and honouring writers.
Books by the speakers will be available to buy at the event and online from our partner bookshop Hatchards.
NB This event will take place in person at The London Library. Doors (and the bar) open at 6.30pm for a 7pm start. Please see our Event Access Guidelines before you arrive. This is a standing event but there will be chairs available in the room.
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