Walk good: In Britain's colonial countryside

This event will take place in the British Library Knowledge Centre Pigott Theatre. It will be simultaneously live streamed on the British Library platform. Tickets may be booked either to attend in person (physical) or to watch on our platform (online) either live or within 48 hours on catch up. Viewing links for the online version will be sent out in the confirmation email you receive after booking. Captions are available for our online events and most in person events in the Pigott Theatre. If you have specific access requirements please email customer@bl.uk

The wealth of the British countryside was secured by the exploitation and plunder of people in Britain's colonies. In 1966, when the Jamaican folk singer Louise Bennett spoke of mass migration to the 'Motherland' as 'Colonisation in Reverse', she didn't foresee that black and brown people would not simply confine themselves to Britain's industrial towns and centres. Colin Grant and WritersMosaic brings together Corinne Fowler, Roger Robinson, Jonny Pitts, Hannah Lowe, John Siddique and Angeline Morrison to reflect on the passions that have arisen now that we’re everywhere, flocking to and 'walking good' in green and pleasant lands that once seemed out of bounds.

Angeline Morrison is a folk singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose 2022 album The Sorrow Songs: Folk Songs of Black British Experience was No 1 Folk Album of the year in The Guardian. The album uses history and imagination to tell stories of UK Black ancestors in the sonic style of traditional folk music. Making her TV debut on Later... with Jools Holland, Angeline has recently appeared at many festivals including London Jazz Festival, Glastonbury and Brighton Festival.

Colin Grant is the Director of WritersMosaic, his books include Bageye at the Wheel, short-listed for the Pen Ackerley Prize, and Homecoming: Voices of the Windrush Generation, a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week. His latest book is I’m Black So You Don’t Have to Be. Grant is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and director of WritersMosaic. Grant writes for a number of newspapers including the Guardian, Observer and New York Review of Books. 

Corinne Fowler is Professor of Colonialism and Heritage at the University of Leicester. She specialises in colonial history, decolonisation and the British countryside’s relationship to Empire. Her most recent books include Green Unpleasant Land: Creative Responses to Rural England’s Colonial Connections Peepal Tree Press, 2020) and her latest book is: Our Island Stories: Country Walks Through Colonial Britain (Penguin Allen Lane, 2024).

Hannah Lowe’s first poetry collection, Chick (Bloodaxe, 2013) blended her political concerns with a commemoration of her father, and won the Michael Murphy Memorial Award for Best First Collection. Her second collection, Chan (Bloodaxe, 2016) is about the life and untimely death of jazz saxophonist, Joe Harriott, and Ormonde (Hercules Editions, 2014) excavates the story of the SS Ormonde, on which her father migrated to Britain. Lowe’s memoir, Long Time No See (Periscope, 2015) was Radio 4’s Book of the Week.

John Siddique has dedicated his life to honouring the authentic in our human experience. He is the author of eight books ranging though poetry, memoir, and non-fiction. The Times of India calls him ‘Rebellious by nature, pure at heart.’ Spectator Magazine describes him as ‘A stellar British poet.’ His work has appeared in The Guardian, Granta, Poetry Review, and on BBC Radio 3 & 4. Siddique is the former British Council Writer-in-Residence at California State University, and he is an Honorary Fellow at Leicester University.

Jonny Pitts is the author of Afropean.  He has presented on MTV, BBC, and ITV1, and his broadcasting includes a BBC Radio 4 documentary exploring Black identity through the music of his father who was a member of the Northern Soul group The Fantastics Society. Pitts currently presents Open Book for BBC Radio 4 and a forthcoming Afropean podcast funded by a grant from the National Geographic. He won the Jhalak Prize for Afropean. The book was also a winner of the Bread & Roses Award for Radical Publishing.

Roger Robinson is writer and performer whose accolades include the T.S. Eliot Prize 2019, RSL Ondaatje Prize 2020, and RSL Fellowship. His work features in anthologies like The Forward Book Of Poetry 2024 and The Penguin Book of New Black Writing in Britain. Roger's commissions span the BBC, Tate, and The National Portrait Gallery. He has judged the Folio Prize and T.S. Eliot Prize, and his poem "A Portable Paradise" is part of the GCSE English Literature syllabus. Roger's books "A Portable Paradise, Home is Not A Place and The Butterfly Hotel" earned multiple nominations. He is a co-founder of Spoke Lab and Malika’s Kitchen.

WritersMosaic, a division of the Royal Literary Fund, is a developmental resource and online magazine, celebrating and showcasing UK writers of the global majority to reflect the changing reality of contemporary Britain, from its past and into its future.

The Royal Literary Fund (founded in 1790) is a charity that helps writers in financial need, and annually delivers over £5 million in grants, education, and outreach programmes.



Doors and Bar open at 18:00. If you’re attending in person, please arrive no later than 15 minutes before the start time of this event.

Half price tickets available for Members, Students, Under 26 and other concession groups.

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