EVENTS: Hachette UK reveals programme of events for Black History Month 2020
Hachette UK’s black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) employee network THRIVE is partnering with its authors to host a series of free panels in celebration of Black History Month.
The panels, which will be held virtually throughout October, will feature a range of Hachette UK authors and are part of the company’s wider Changing the Story programme of diversity and inclusion initiatives.
A Black Love panel will take place on 14th October from 7 p.m.-8 p.m. and will focus on the importance of seeing black love represented in books and on-screen. It will cover the process of writing romance and rom-coms and how we can go about supporting and encouraging more media to bring black love and black joy to the forefront. Panellists include Sareeta Domingo, author of Love on the Mainstage (Hachette Children’s Group), Bolu Babalola, author of Love in Colour (Headline), pictured, and Elizabeth Okoh, author of The Returnees (Hodder & Stoughton).
A Black Activism Panel will take place on 21st October from 7 p.m.-8 p.m. and will be chaired by Arike Oko, m.d. of the Black Cultural Archives. Panellists include Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, who wrote This Is Why I Resist (Headline), Alexandra Wilson, author of In Black & White (Octopus) and Patrick Vernon, author of 100 Black Britons (Little, Brown), who will be talking about their roles as strong activists for black people in their respective fields, the importance of activism in everyday life and black Britons that have inspired them.
The Publishers and Agents of Tomorrow panel will take place on 29th October from 7 p.m.-8 p.m. and will be chaired by Sharmaine Lovegrove, publisher of Dialogue Books. This panel will focus on how to break into the publishing industry and include Kwaku Osei Afrifa, editorial assistant for Hodder Studio, Sile Edwards, literary agent for Mushen Entertainment, and Nelle Andrews, literary agent for Rachel Mills Literary as panellists.