Award-winning British-Ghanaian writer and filmmaker Caleb Azumah Nelson joins a special London Literature Festival conversation exploring masculinity, vulnerability, grief and the quiet power of tenderness in contemporary fiction.
Nelson has become one of the most distinctive young voices in Black British literature. His critically acclaimed debut novel, Open Water, is an intimate exploration of love between two young Black British artists in London, set against questions of race, masculinity, vulnerability and what it means to feel safe and seen.
His second novel, Small Worlds, moves between London and Ghana and explores family, migration, music, faith, love and the relationships between fathers and sons.
Both novels have attracted widespread praise for Nelson’s lyrical style and his ability to explore the emotional interior lives of Black men with tenderness and honesty.
At Rewriting Male Tenderness, Nelson joins fellow novelist Tomasz Jedrowski, author of Swimming in the Dark, with further writers due to be announced.
Together, the authors consider the parts of masculinity that are often left unexplored in fiction: softness, intimacy, loneliness, fear and grief.
The conversation asks what literature makes possible when writers allow male characters to be emotionally complex and vulnerable, and how fiction can challenge traditional expectations about how men are supposed to behave.
For Black History Month audiences, Nelson’s contribution is particularly relevant. His novels place young Black men at the centre of stories about love, creativity and emotional life, moving beyond representations of Black masculinity that are too often defined primarily by struggle or stereotype.
The event offers an opportunity to hear one of contemporary Black British literature’s most acclaimed writers discuss the craft and thinking behind creating male characters with depth, tenderness and emotional freedom.
Service95 Book Club: Rewriting Male Tenderness takes place in the Purcell Room at the Southbank Centre on Saturday 31st October 2026 at 7:45pm.
The approximate running time is 1 hour 15 minutes, tickets start from £17, and the event is recommended for ages 15+.
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