Velvet-Club Connecting Lesbians & Bi-women around the World

Duet Author Book Reading: Bernardine Evaristo reads from 'Mr Loverman' and Diriye Osman reads from 'Fairytales For Lost Children' "Mr Loverman is hilarious, poignant, clever, controversial and courageous in equal measure. Loved, loved, loved it!" - Dawn French Barrington Jedidiah Walker is seventy-four and leads a double life. Born and bred in Antigua, hes lived in Hackney since the sixties. A flamboyant, wise-cracking local character with a dapper taste in retro suits and a fondness for quoting Shakespeare, Barrington is a husband, father and grandfather but he is also secretly homosexual, lovers with his great childhood friend, Morris. His deeply religious and disappointed wife, Carmel, thinks he sleeps with other women. When their marriage goes into meltdown, Barrington wants to divorce Carmel and live with Morris, but after a lifetime of fear and deception, will he manage to break away? Mr Loverman is a ground-breaking exploration of Britains older Caribbean community which explodes cultural myths and fallacies and shows the extent of what can happen when people fear the consequences of being true to themselves. This riproaring, full-bodied riff on sex, secrecy and family is Bernardine Evaristos seventh book. If you dont yet know her work, you should she says things about modern Britain that no one else does Guardian Bernardine Evaristo is the author of seven books including three critically acclaimed verse novels, Lara, The Emperor's Babe and Soul Tourists. Mr Loverman is her second prose novel, after 2008's Blonde Roots, which was longlisted for the Orange Prize and won the Orange Prize Youth Panel Award. Evaristo's other awards include the EMMA Best Book, Arts Council Award and the Big Red Read Award. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and was awarded an MBE in 2009. She lives in London. Diriye Osman reads from 'Fairytales For Lost Children' Diriye Osman is a Somali-born, British short story writer and visual artist. ''Fairytales For Lost Children' is a collection of short stories which follows the lives of young gay and lesbian Somalis as they fight against the constraints of tradition and tumble towards freedom. The themes encompass immigration, family, faith, love and liberation set in the beach towns of Somalia, the suburbs of Kenya and the streets of South London. FAIRYTALES FOR LOST CHILDREN is narrated by people constantly on the verge of self-revelation. These characters young, gay and lesbian Somalis must navigate the complexities of family, identity and the immigrant experience as they tumble towards freedom. Set in Kenya, Somalia and South London, these stories are imbued with pathos, passion and linguistic playfulness, marking the arrival of a singular new voice in contemporary fiction. Praise for FAIRYTALES FOR LOST CHILDREN 'Fantastic writing. I am most highly impressed. I've read some of the stories more than once and saw in each one of them plenty of talent everywhere - in every sinew and vein.' - NURUDDIN FARAH There is nothing more humbling than good writing except when the author is fiercely beautiful and ferociously generous of heart. That Diriye Osman should possess so much talent is only fair in light of his goodness. Read this book. - MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO The characters in these fairy tales are displaced in multiple, complicated ways. But Osmans storytelling creates a shelter for them; a warm place which is both real and imaginary, in which they find political, sexual, and ultimately psychic liberation. - ALISON BECHDEL

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