For the first time ever in its 13 years history (!) I am changing the format of The R.A.P Party. But it is for a good reason. After each poem we typically play songs featuring rappers, but the 22nd of June, this year’s Windrush Day, marks the 75th anniversary of the HMT Empire Windrush arrival in Britton. On 22 June 1948, that ship brought 800 workers from the Caribbean to rebuild Britain after the 2nd World War and this year is a chance to mark this milestone in British history.
We have an opportunity to spark a wider conversation about the past, present and future of our multi-ethnic society, and in that light, The Royal Society of Literature, The London Library and myself have commissioned 10 poets to create new work, 10 new poems to mark the momentous day. Accordingly, instead of rap music, we shall be celebrating music of the Caribbean: Reggae, dancehall and basement.
The lineup is one of the finest ever put together for a rap party. We have: Malika Booker, Dean Atta, Anthony Vahni Capildeo, Casey Bailey, Courtney Conrad, Mr Gee, Safiya Kamaria Kinshasa, Keith Jarrett, Deanna Rodger, and Raymond Antrobus, all helmed by poet and Dj James Massiah. It is a historic event, and you should mark it with us.
Doors / 6:30pm / Show 7:00pm
Date / 22 June / Tix £10-£8 / Book from Here.
Venue / 14 St James’s Square / London / SW1Y 4LG
This event will be BSL interpreted.
Raymond Antrobus MBE FRSL is a multi-award-winning poet, writer and educator. He is the author of Shapes & Disfigurements (Burning Eye, 2012) To Sweeten Bitter (Out-Spoken Press, 2017), The Perseverance (Penned In The Margins / Tin House, 2018) and All The Names Given (Picador / Tin House, 2021).
Dean Atta is an award-winning British author and poet whose works include a poetry collection There is (still) love here and a novel in verse, The Black Flamingo, which won the Stonewall Book Award and was shortlisted for numerous further prestigious awards.
Casey Bailey is an award-winning writer, performer and educator, born and raised in Nechells, Birmingham. Casey was the Birmingham Poet Laureate 2020 - 2022. He is a fellow at the University of Worcester, and in 2021 was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Education by Newman University.
Malika Booker FRSL is a British poet of Guyanese and Grenadian parentage, a lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University and co-founder of the writers' collective, Malika’s Poetry Kitchen. Her collections include Breadfruit and Pepper Seed and her poem 'The Little Miracles' won The Forward Prize for Best Single Poem (2020). She was awarded the Cholmondeley Award (2019) for outstanding contribution to poetry.
Anthony (Vahni) Capildeo FRSL is Professor and Writer in Residence at the University of York. Their site-specific word and visual arts includes responses to Cornwall’s former capital, Launceston, as the Causley Trust Poet in Residence (2022) and to the Ubatuba granite of the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds (2023). Recent publications include Like a Tree, Walking and A Happiness .
Courtney Conrad is a Jamaican poet. She is an Eric Gregory Award winner and a Bridport Prize Young Writers Award recipient. Her work has been widely anthologised and she is an alumna of The London Library Emerging Writers Programme, Malika's Poetry Kitchen, Barbican Young Poets, Obsidian Foundation Retreat, Griots Well Collective and Roundhouse Poetry Collective.
Mr Gee has been a veteran on the UK's Spoken Word scene since the 90s. He has presented several radio series for Radio 4 and National Prison Radio and his poetry has been used to launch the 2023 FA Cup Finals and the 2021 Euros. His work has also been included in the 2022 anthology The Other Windrush which explored the story of Indian and Chinese Indentured labourers in the Caribbean.
Dr Keith Jarrett is a writer, performer and academic of Jamaican heritage. His work explores Black history, religion and sexuality. A multiple poetry slam champion, he was selected for the International Literary Showcase as one of 10 outstanding LGBT UK-based writers. Keith teaches at NYU London and is completing his debut novel.
Safiya Kamaria Kinshasa is a British born Barbadian raised choreopoet and PhD student at the University of Leeds, whose interdisciplinary art braids dance and poetry. Safiya is an Obsidian Foundation alumna and an Apples & Snakes/ Jerwood Arts Poetry in Performance recipient. Her debut collection Cane, Corn & Gully was shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize and won Barbados’ Gine On People’s Choice Book of The Year Award.
Deanna Rodger is a former UK Poetry Slam Champion who has performed and facilitated around the world. She has worked with FIFA, Disney, St Paul’s Cathedral, Nationwide, Keats’ House, Young Vic and Adidas and her reimagined 'If', was read by Serena Williams for BBC Sport International Women’s Day 2021. She is founder of Who Knows Poetry, a facilitation training platform. Publications include I Did It Too and his fingers have left.
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.
Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.
Books by the artists will be available to purchase at the event and online through our partner bookshop Hatchards.