“How We’re Leaving Diversity Discussions at the Door”: Bare Lit 2018

More than 600 people are expected at the ever-popular literary festival, Bare Lit later this month (25-27 May). The annual gathering of emerging and established writers of colour returns for its 2018 outing, and they are moving to a new venue, The Albany in Lewisham.

Since their launch in 2016, the Bare Lit Festival has provided a much-needed outlet for talented writers who are often excluded, especially those who are disabled, women and LGBTQ.

Their mission is simple: to provide a literary field that is accessible to everyone. This year, Bare Lit Festival is working towards reaching marginalised BAME communities.

In 2015, the UK’s three largest literary festivals featured more than 2,000 authors. Of those 2000+ authors, only 4% were from Black Caribbean, Black African, South Asian or East Asian backgrounds, based on a report published by SPREAD THE WORD. Bare Lit Festival was created to combat this by celebrating the work of remarkable writers of colour.

BOOKLOVERS: We're back with readings, conversations, performances & more! May 25–27 at @TheAlbanySE8 | 🔜 Check back for programme updates! Get tickets here: https://t.co/DIMgd9Gd7q #BareLit18 @WritersofColour #GetLondonLit pic.twitter.com/7ahJAsq36T

— Bare Lit Festival (@BareLit) March 24, 2018

Now in its third year, the festival will offer attendees the opportunity to enjoy exciting readings, panels and performances, poetry, purchase books and zines from favourite and undiscovered authors and meet like-minded individuals from across the country.

A post shared by Bare Lit (@bare.lit) on Apr 23, 2017 at 6:16am PDT

Britain after the fall of multiculturalism and crime and mystery are just a few topics that guests will enjoy during the weekend, just some of the themes that are reflective of “the interrogative and celebratory discussions Bare Lit is known for.”

The festival’s founders, Henna Zamurd-Butt and Mend Mariwany, are focused on increasing representation of marginalised BAME identities in the industry. Henna told us:

“Bare Lit is distinct amongst literature festivals because it centres the work of writers of colour – that means leaving diversity discussions at the door.”

“The team works hard to push the boundaries in terms of session formats: this year attendees can expect a live session with podcast Mostly Lit, a scratch performance of Annette Brook’s play Gala Mae, speed pitching to a panel of publishers, performances from writers included in Stairs and Whispers, an anthology of D/deaf and disabled writers, a panel on the significance of the anthology format which is curated by UK Black Pride, and much more!”

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit the Bare Lit Festival website.

Visit our book section.