Writing the Personal: Powerful stories of empire, race and migration

Hackney Libraries

Join authors Sheela Banerjee and Lucy Fulford in conversation about their books What’s In A Name? and The Exiled

Hackney Central Library

Join authors Sheela Banerjee and Lucy Fulford in conversation about their books What’s In A Name? and The Exiled, taking in empire, migration, racism, caste and belonging. From the starting points of Sheela’s name, and Lucy’s grandmother’s diary, hear how they took personal routes into uncovering big picture histories, from the Ugandan Asian expulsion to Partition, and showing how events of the 1970s and 1980s are as relevant now as ever.&nbsp; *In What's in a Name?, Sheela Banerjee unravels the personal histories of friends and family through their names. And while tracing their heritage across centuries and continents - from west London to British India, and from 1960s Jamaica to pre-Revolutionary Russia - Sheela also tells the story of twentieth-century immigration to the UK. Blending history, memoir and politics, What's in a Name? is a celebration of Britain's rich multiculturalism, an ode to friendship and a testament to all the stories held within our names.*Uganda, August 1972. President Idi Amin makes a shocking pronouncement - the country's South Asian population is being expelled. They have ninety days to leave. Fifty years on, The Exiled draws on first-hand interviews and testimonies, including from Lucy’s family, to uncover what happened next. Journeying across continents and decades, this work of reportage illuminates an essential, and under-explored, chapter in post-colonial history, challenging politically expedient narratives to uncover the true fate of minorities at the end of empire. About Sheela Banerjee: Sheela Banerjee is a writer, journalist and academic and her work has been published in The Guardian, Observer, Metro and Grazia. Her debut book, What’s In A Name? was published by Sceptre/Hodder. She directed TV programmes for the BBC and Channel 4 for many years, which told powerful stories of individual lives. She later followed a passion for literature and left TV to do a PhD on ghosts in modernist literature. She grew up mainly in Hayes, west London, and in India, and her work often focuses on questions of culture and belonging in the UK’s diaspora communities.&nbsp; About Lucy Fulford:&nbsp;Lucy Fulford is a journalist and author who focuses on migration and identity, often through the lens of conflict and trauma. Her debut book, The Exiled: Empire, Immigration and the Ugandan Asian Exodus (Coronet/Hodder 2023) explores the ramifications of this landmark, unexplored forced migration on the generations which followed. Lucy studied History at the University of Bristol, writes for publications including The Guardian, The Sunday Times, CNN and The New Humanitarian, and produces films and editorial content for brands and NGOs.&nbsp;

Agenda

Doors

Discussion & Public Q&A

Book Signings & Meet the Authors

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Writing the Personal: Powerful stories of empire, race and migration

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Writing the Personal: Powerful stories of empire, race and migration

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