Edinburgh launch: Let Me Tell You This - Nadine Aisha Jassat
With Lighthouse Books. Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/let-me-tell-you-this-nadine-aisha-jassat-launch-tickets-55109837006
Nadine Aisha Jassat’s debut collection Let Me Tell You This is a vital exploration of racism, gender and the sustaining, restorative bonds between women, told with her searing precision and lyricism. It is one of the most hotly anticipated books of 2019 with early praise from Jackie Kay, Hollie McNish and Nikesh Shukla.
These poems seep into the reader as they navigate the lived experience, seeking answers to questions that shouldn’t need to be asked, guiding the reader on a journey that delivers a punch to the chest that sits with you long after the final page is turned. Nadine is a rare and exciting talent.
In keeping with the spirit of her poetry and performance the launch of Let Me Tell You This is also a showcase of some of Scotland's most talented and compelling women in the arts. Stay tuned as we announce our all women of colour line up in February!
'Nadine is a writer whose graceful, honest words somehow hit you with all the force of a sucker punch. I felt read by this collection. Nadine excavates a certain trauma and pain that lies latent in the experiences of so many women with breathtaking precision and care, lifting our voices and tenderly giving weight to our buried truths. If you read one poetry collection this year, let it be this.' - Sabeena Akhtar
Nadine's work has been published online and in print, including in 404 ink’s acclaimed Nasty Women, the Dangerous Women Project, and New Writing Scotland. Her pamphlet, Still, was launched at the Scottish Poetry Library in 2016, and her spoken-word piece, ‘Hopscotch,’ was made into a film-poem by award-winning filmmaker Roxana Vilk, and has been shown at festivals across the UK.
Nadine has performed solo spoken-word shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the Just Festival, and the Audacious Women Festival, as well as performing at literary cabarets such as Flint & Pitch, and Sofar Sounds Edinburgh. She has appeared at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, Aye Write, and Glasgow Women’s Library’s Festival of Women Writers, and was the debut writer in residence for YWCA Scotland - The Young Women's Movement.
Nadine has worked extensively as a creative practitioner focusing on social justice issues, and in particular delivers workshops and projects with young people; using drama, creative writing, and storytelling to explore Racism, Islamophobia and Gender-Based Violence. In 2017, Nadine was named as one of thirty inspiring young women under thirty in Scotland.
The Assembly Roxy is wheelchair accessible and speakers will be using microphones at this event. If you have any access needs do give the bookshop a shout (email us a books @ Lighthousebookshop .com) and we'll try to accomodate you however we can.
We have 20 free tickets availble for this event, intended to make the evening accesible to those who are unwaged/ on benefits/ might not otherwise be able to attend - If you can afford a £3 ticket please book one as this supports the bookshop and allows us to save free places for those who can't, thanks!
Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/let-me-tell-you-this-nadine-aisha-jassat-launch-tickets-55109837006
Glasgow launch: We Were Always Here: A Queer Words Anthology
Join us this LGBT History Month for a spectacular event celebrating the launch of We Were Always Here, the culmination of 404 Ink's fantastic Queer Words Project! An anthology of stories and poems tackling the range and diversity of queer experiences that binds the broad LGBT+ community, We Were Always Here is a snapshot of current Scottish LGBTI+ writing and a showcase of queer talent..
Edinburgh launch: We Were Always Here: A Queer Words Anthology
Join the Queer Words Project Scotland for the launch of We Were Always Here, a hot pink anthology of queer Scottish writing from 404 Ink. From drag queens and discos to black holes and monsters, these stories and poems wrestle with love and loneliness and the fight to be seen. By turns serious and fantastical, hilarious and confrontational, We Were Always Here addresses the fears, mysteries, wonders and variety of experience that binds our community together.