In this fascinating talk, Dr Fariha Shaikh will shine a spotlight on the voices of those who were colonised, bringing their significant contributions to the history of British literature to the fore. She will delve into the rich network of Black, Asian and Indigenous authors that existed in nineteenth-century London. Until now, these authors have either been left out of literary histories or have been seen as somehow lesser than their British counterparts. This talk is an effort to redress that and suggests that we might read this body of work differently to uncover the innovation and playfulness of these authors, and how they understood their positions in the world.

About Fariha Shaikh

Dr Fariha Shaikh is Associate Professor at the University of Birmingham. She is the author of Nineteenth-Century Settler Emigration in British Literature and Art (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2018), and has research interests in literature, empire and migration.

***

The evening is a part of Grand Junction’s Our Shared Heritage talks programme which explores themes from the late Victorian period, when St Mary Magdalene’s was built, from different and diverse perspectives.

Our Shared Heritage celebrates the part that Black, Arab, and Asian people and cultures have played in London’s history.