In Conversation: Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason and Francesca Amewudah-Rivers

To be young, gifted and Black in the arts is to hold both joy and challenge in equal measure. In this powerful conversation, Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason, mother to the extraordinary Kanneh-Mason musical family, and Francesca Amewudah-Rivers, actor reflect on navigating public life, creativity, and excellence in the face of racism and exclusion. Join  Brighton Book Festival for this incredible conversation by these two amazing women.

15th May at 6.30pm

Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason is a former lecturer at Birmingham University and the mother of seven children. The third eldest, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, was BBC Young Musician 2016 and performed at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. The siblings have performed at the 2018 BAFTA ceremony, Britain’s Got Talent, The Royal Variety Performance and at major concert halls around the world.

Francesca Amewudah-Rivers is an actor, composer and musician who was awarded the 2021 Evening Standard Future Theatre Award for Audio Design. In early 2024, Francesca made her West End debut opposite Tom Holland in a production of Romeo & Juliet.  Although the news was exciting for all theatergoers, racist commenters inundated her with abusive messages on social media.

TO BE YOUNG, GIFTED AND BLACK By Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason

“This exceptional book, written with a mother’s love for her seven creative children, sensitively offers profound and original insights and perspectives that enrich our culture. I feel so much wiser for reading it.” Bernardine Evaristo

AN IMPASSIONED DEFENCE OF BLACK EXCELLENCE IN THE ARTS
When Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason’s eldest daughter, Isata, made her solo debut at the BBC Proms in 2023, she could not have been prouder. Watching years of hard work transform into a transcendent performance was profoundly moving, both as music-lover and parent.
All fractured when her younger daughter came to her in tears a few days later, having read online abuse about her sister. Isata, it was declared, did not deserve to be there. How do you prepare your child for the fact that no matter their talent, technique, or dedication, they will be told they do not belong?
Through conversations with her extraordinarily gifted family, Kanneh-Mason explores what it is like to come of age in these turbulent times, when Black artistic self-expression is so often met with disparagement and abuse online – and offers a hopeful, powerful way through.