As I sat down in my seat for An Evening with Rough Trade Books at the Southbank Centre, I had a flashback to marching down to their shop in Portobello Road to buy a tote bag so I could show off on the first day of Sixth Form; Sixteen and Twenty Nine-year-old me were evidently very excited for this fifth Birthday celebration. With Lily Blacksell as host, the night was structured by a delicious spin-the-wheel graphic with audience wooing strongly encouraged. Opening with an animation from Marcel Dzama, there was a live dance performance by Francesca Thakorlal under the glow of a projected pink moon. A poem by Sharan Hunjan that spoke of the similarities in language between teaching and incarceration stuck with me, as did fellow 4 BROWN GIRLS WHO WRITE member Sheena Patel and Mark Leckey’s collaboration. This hybridity of media rang true throughout the evening as it proved that language does not have to stay on the page. With disco dancing and dry ice from Jarvis Cocker, to Musa Okwonga’s dedication to eating cake in Berlin, it was jubilant as it was deeply cathartic. Salena Godden’s readings from her book Pessimism is for Lightweights felt radiant in their hopefulness and reminded me of the theories of collective joy/radical happiness. As these thoughts rattled around in my brain, I queued up in the interval for a little pot of ice cream and chatted with a cheerful man. The energy of the show had created a noticeable sense of comfort and ease in the space. Mint chocolate chip secured, I sat back and thought about what a privilege it is that people share their stories with us in so many forms. Whenever I watch live performances, I feel this sense of gratitude and this combination of talent struck me as a celebration of finding your way in the world.
As we returned to the show, there were banners from the Miners’ Strike held with pride on stage and In Loving Memory of Workbegan. Craig Oldham's film, scored by Keely Forsyth and narrated by Maxine Peake, led us into a singalong from Gwenno and Women Against Pit Closures as ‘We are women of the Working Class’ reverberated around the hall. It was a pause to commemorate what is lost by the actions of governments that refuse to see and support the humans within working-class communities. Richard Phoenix then read us excerpts of his genius book Do Your Own Thing as we listened and did a series of joyous call and responses. He spoke of how creativity can be a form of communication as instruments were brought on stage for a closing live performance by Electric Fire. They are a band that Phoenix has worked alongside and supported in their creative endeavours as part of the community and charity, Heart n Soul. The band encouraged the crowd to come to the front and dance along, creating these spontaneous waves of people running from their chairs to join in, shaking off their insecurities to participate. I wanted to speak about each performance in this piece as it was this party bag-like curation that made the night so abundant. By embracing your own stories and words, you can find others who want to be themselves in communion with you and that there will be publishers like Rough Trade Books who make it their mission to support this.