Wed 7 May, 5.30-7.30pm
This reading and discussion group will focus on Bhanu Kapil’s Ban-en-Banlieue. Led by poet Jennifer Lee Tsai, currently an Artist in Residence at Bluecoat through the Wittenham Bursary, we will read and share our thoughts, ideas, and reflections on this powerful and innovative work in an inclusive, friendly, and encouraging space. All are welcome.
Ban-en-Banlieue, a collection of fragmented stories and poems, follows the story of a young girl named Ban as she gets caught in a race riot while walking home from school in England in 1979. Find out more about Kapil's book here.
Free, booking essential
About the Artist
Jennifer Lee Tsai is a poet, editor and critic. She was born in Bebington and grew up in Liverpool. A fellow of The Complete Works and a Ledbury Poetry Critic, she is the author of two poetry pamphlets Kismet (ignition press, 2019) and La Mystérique (Guillemot Press, 2022). Her work also features in the Bloodaxe anthologies Ten: Poets of the New Generation (2017) and Mapping The Future: The Complete Works Poets (2023). She is the recipient of a 2020 Northern Writers Award for Poetry and a co-winner of the Women Poets Prize. Lee Tsai is currently in residence at the Bluecoat, as part of the Wittenham Bursary.
About the Author
Bhanu Kapil is a British-Indian emigrant to the United States. She is the author of five full-length works of poetry/prose: The Vertical Interrogation of Strangers (2001), Incubation: a space for monsters (2006), humanimal [a project for future children] (2009), Schizophrene (2011), and Ban en Banlieue (2015). Since 2007, she has been incubating “Ban” through performances, talks, and collaborations in the U.S., India, and the U.K. She lives in Colorado where she teaches Interdisciplinary Studies at Naropa University.