“..packed to the brim with layers of symbolism, individual and cultural memories, and fascinating historical stories it remains as relevant today.”
Duppy Conqueror offers a potted history of the twentieth century recounted through Afro-Caribbean senses. This book by Ferdinand Dennis, first published in 1998, offers a powerful narrative of the British-African-Caribbean experience in which the personal and the political seamlessly collide. The event will include readings and a conversation between Dennis and Renaissance One founder/director Melanie Abrahams.
Marshall Sarjeant is born at the beginning of the 20th century in Paradise, Jamaica. As a young man, he is entrusted with a mythical quest to overcome a curse that has been put on his family. He must do this by returning to Africa from where family members were brought as slaves. Marshall’s life turns full circle in his epic mission to defeat the duppy, or ghost that started him on his voyage, a journey which takes him through historical spaces of Black trauma and resistance, including Liverpool, London and Africa.
Join us for this special occasion, which takes place following the book's publication by the new imprint Small Axes (Hope Road) on 29 October 2020.
Tickets are free and bookable via the link below. The event will be online via Zoom. Once you book a ticket and receive confirmation, you will receive a link one hour before the event.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ferdinand Dennis was born in Kingston, Jamaica and he grew up in London as a young boy in the 1960s. He has taught creative writing and is the author of the novels, The Sleepless Summer and The Last Blues Dance. His non-fiction includes Back to Africa: A Journey and Behind the Frontlines: Journey into Afro-Britain for which he was awarded the Martin Luther King Memorial Prize. The Black and White Museum, a short story collection, will be published by Small Axes in 2021. He lives in North London.
Part of Renaissance One’s 'The Care Project' which is funded by Arts Council England.
