Two leading Black academics and writers come together at Liverpool Literary Festival for a special conversation exploring transnational Black culture on both sides of the Atlantic.
Thomas Glave and Professor Stephen Small will discuss the connections between Black life in Britain, the Caribbean and the United States, including the distinctive history and culture of Black communities in Liverpool from the 1970s to the present day.
Glave is an acclaimed Jamaican-American writer and Professor of English at Binghamton University in New York, as well as an honorary professor at the University of Liverpool.
His work spans fiction, essays and criticism and frequently explores race, colonialism, sexuality, Jamaica and the experiences of Black people across the diaspora.
His books include Our Caribbean: A Gathering of Lesbian and Gay Writing from the Antilles, while his new essay collection En Pointe, Off Kilter reflects on subjects including racism, Jamaican life, queer identity, British colonialism, recent history and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Joining him is Stephen Small, who was born in Liverpool 8 and is Professor in the Department of African American Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.
Small has spent decades researching the history and sociology of Black communities across Europe, the United States and the wider African diaspora.
His most recent book, Black Liverpool: ‘the real thing’. West African, West Indian and Afro-American Culture at the End of the Twentieth Century, places Liverpool’s Black communities within a much wider international story of migration, culture and identity.
The conversation will be joined by Dr Amal Abu-Bakare, Lecturer in the Politics of Race and Decolonial Studies at the University of Liverpool.
For Black History Month audiences, this event offers a particularly valuable opportunity to explore Liverpool’s Black history through both local experience and global connections, examining how African, Caribbean and African American influences have shaped the city across generations.
Thomas Glave and Stephen Small: In Conversation takes place at the Victoria Gallery & Museum, University of Liverpool, on Saturday 17th October 2026 at 4:00pm.
Tickets are £10. The Victoria Gallery & Museum is at Ashton Street, Liverpool, L69 3DR.
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