Southbank Centre and Words of Colour unveil festival to celebrate James Baldwin’s centenary year

The centenary of writer and activist James Baldwin’s birth will be celebrated at a one day festival, Conversations with Baldwin, at the Southbank Centre on Sunday 21st July 2024.

Curated by Words of Colour and presented in collaboration with the Southbank Centre, the festival aims to "explore the iconic American writer’s artistry, literature and enduring influence". It will form part of the Southbank Centre’s You Belong Here season, celebrating underrepresented and unheard artists and communities in a summer programme curated around Tavares Strachan’s exhibition at the Hayward Gallery.

Running from 12pm to 9pm, the festival opens with an examination of Baldwin’s 1962 novel Another Country with author, academic and broadcaster Emma Dabiri, poet and writer Nikita Gill and writer Paul Mendez.

In ‘Notes of a Native Son: Baldwin and Artists’ Roles’, a staged reading of Baldwin’s non-fiction collection will be followed by a discussion on the role of activism and being an artist with actor and director Burt Caesar, founding editor of the James Baldwin Review Douglas Field, and writer, broadcaster and social advocate Yassmin Abdel-Magied.

The one-day event will end with a celebratory exploration of Baldwin and Fashion. "Baldwin’s stylish prose, sartorial flair and how we dress to shape identities will be unpacked by TV, film and theatre actress Sarah Niles, fashion designer Nicholas Daley and writer, performer and theatremaker Travis Alabanza," the event’s description reads.

Joy Francis, executive director of Words of Colour, said: "Conversations with Baldwin honours how relevant, resonant and vital James Baldwin continues to be for artists, activists, writers and readers, especially from the global majority. Baldwin speaks the truth about what makes us human, gives voice to how blackness is weaponised and eloquently exposes the insidiousness of racism. His writing defies convention, leaps from the page into your subconscious and dares you to live boldly, and with agency. We are happy that the Southbank Centre shares our appreciation of Baldwin’s timeless value."

Ted Hodgkinson, head of literature and spoken word at the Southbank Centre, added: "From the sheer beauty of his prose to the lasting resonance of his perceptions, James Baldwin is a vital touchstone for the generations and a figure at the heart of the Hayward Gallery’s exhibition ‘Tavares Strachan: There Is Light Somewhere’, which takes its name from a Baldwin sentence.

"This enduring message is central to the Southbank Centre’s summer programme You Belong Here, so we are thrilled to be collaborating with Words of Colour on Conversations with Baldwin, for what promises to be an illuminating celebration of Baldwin’s many dimensions and defining works." Tickets can be found here.