6.30pm - 8pm
Dr Velma McClymont will discuss writing, her novel Little River - the story of Scotland and Jamaica and talk about the black experience in Britain during the Windrush era: 1948-1973.
This is FREE author event run in partnership with West Norwood Library, click on the headline for more info and how to reserve your place (essential, as places are limited)
Dr Velma McClymont is a writer, poet, scholar-activist, international speaker and the director/publisher of WomanzVue Books. She is a former lecturer in Caribbean Studies and has worked in banking, local government and as a visiting author in schools and libraries across the UK (including Scotland) and in Jamaica.
Her latest novel is Little River, a sweeping historical novel of a Scottish sugar baron and the Jamaica his life becomes enmeshed with.
A Windrush child, Dr. McClymont, born in rural Jamaica, joined her parents in England in the late 1960's. She grew up in Battersea in the London Borough of Wandsworth where she attended a RC convent school.
During her talk, Dr. McClymont will speak about her experience of living in London in the 1970s, and about the black experience in Britain during the Windrush era: 1948-1973.
BOOK YOUR PLACE HERE
The location of this event will be West Norwood Library
On 22nd June 1948, the Empire Windrush landed at Tilbury Docks, bringing the first wave of post-war Caribbean immigrants to Britain, many of whom were housed temporarily in an air raid shelter on Clapham Common. Having signed on at the nearest employment agency in Brixton, most Caribbean men quickly found employment in construction or British Railway & London Transport. Some, especially women, trained in the NHS as nurses and midwives while others worked in factories as seamstresses and tailors. During this time, the new arrivals experienced a hostile reception from the host nation; hence, many people bough their own homes and homes, too. At the same time, there were messages in windows stating clearly, "No Irish, no coloureds; no dogs."
This is a completely free event, brought to the community in a partnership with West Norwood Library and as part of the ongoing National Heritage Lottery funded project in West Norwood Cemetery. You can find out more on the project website: www.westnorwoodcemetery.org
If you have any queries on accessibility, or anything else, please contact Kim Hart on khart@lambeth.gov.uk
