Tower and Town, September 2021

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Hiscox Debut Authors: iWe Are All Birds Of Uganda by Hafsa Zayyan; Assembly by Natasha Brown

As part of the LitFest, we hold a debut authors event to promote fantastic work by new writers, and this event is sponsored by long time LitFest supporters, Hiscox Insurance.

This year the event features Hafsa Zayyan, whose book We Are All Birds of Uganda was a winner of Stormzy’s #Merky Books New Writers prize, as well as featuring on BBC Radio 4, and being selected for the BBC Radio 2 Book Club. The book simultaneously follows Sameer, a successful young solicitor in contemporary London, and his grandfather, Hasan, in Kampala, Uganda in the 1970s. Uncertainty and family tension plague both individuals as Sameer navigates a demanding work life with a potential move to Singapore, and Hasan is facing the turbulence which came as Idi Amin seized power in Uganda. Both stories explore the racism and fragility of belonging within societies and cultures which are not unconditionally accepting.

The theme of racism and the uglier side of modern professionalism is also present in this year’s second debut, Assembly by Natasha Brown. In only 100 pages, the book offers a powerful insight into the experience of black British women. We see the unnamed narrator succeeding in her career in finance, and receiving an invite to a garden party at the large country home of her boyfriend’s wealthy white family. Interspersed with flashbacks to incidents throughout her life, Natasha Brown gives readers a glimpse at a world in which no aspect of life is untouched by racism, or assumptions based on race. Assembly explores how the exhaustion, caused by these relentless prejudices, undermines the successes of the narrator and determines how she chooses to face her latest battle.

Both debuts provide powerful insights into belonging and racism in modern society, but in dramatically different styles and tones; they are sure to generate an engaging and important discussion as part of our LitFest this year.

The Debut Authors event can be heard at 4pm on Saturday 2nd October.

Alice Padfield