Words to Resist With: a radical writing cabaret (RBF 2024)

Please check ticket info for this event below, incl. information about access.

What does writing do when it’s radical? What does it seek to uproot and how can it build anew?

For our Friday evening book fair offering, we bring you a cabaret of voices that disrupt, illuminate, connect us to what truly matters and hammer through veneers and narrative dictated by the status quo. They are here to share their work, but also to reflect on what we mean when we use the term ‘radical’ with regards to writing and storytelling.

Three stellar writers and thinkers, Salena Godden, Lisa Minerva Luxx and Hasib Hourani, take to the book fair stage for an evening mixing performance and conversation, hosted by Jess Brough.

If you’re in need of a power kick, here’s where to start your Friday night.

Our speakers:

Salena Godden FRSL is an award-winning author, poet, memoirist and broadcaster of Jamaican-mixed heritage based in London. Her debut novel Mrs Death Misses Death won the Indie Book Award for Fiction and the People's Book Prize, and was shortlisted for the British Book Awards and the Gordon Burn Prize. Her work has also been shortlisted for the 4thWrite short story prize, the Ted Hughes Award, Jerwood Compton Foundation, the Saboteur Awards and The Bridport Prize. Salena Godden is one of the UK’s foremost poets, often topping the bill at national and international literary events and festivals. She is widely anthologised and broadcast on BBC radio, TV and film. Her poem ‘Pessimism is for Lightweights’ is on permanent display at the People’s History Museum, Manchester. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, an Honorary Fellow of West Dean, Sussex, and a patron of Hastings Book Festival.

Hasib Hourani is a writer, editor, arts worker, and educator living on unceded Wangal Country. His debut book, 'rock flight' was released with Giramondo (AU) and Prototype (UK) in 2024, and will be released with New Directions (US) in 2025.

lisa minerva luxx* is a British-Syrian writer and political activist. Their poetry, essays and fiction have been published internationally including by Poetry Review, New England Review, Al Jazeera, BBC Radio 4 and their short film ‘Lesbian.’ was produced by Channel 4. In 2021 their debut collection, Fetch Your Mother’s Heart received critical acclaim. They are a platinum award-winning lyricist with Maison Arts, LA, and have written three verse plays including what the dog said to the harvest which premiered at Southbank Centre. In Beirut, they are co-founder of eLaa Beirut and the anti-racism mutual aid collective Nehna Hone. In England, they are a dedicated member of Palestine Action.

Our host is Jess Brough is a writer of science fiction, poetry, and cultural commentary. They are the Founder and Director of Fringe of Colour – an Edinburgh-based multi-award-winning arts initiative for Black people and People of Colour at arts festivals in Scotland and beyond. Jess completed a PhD in Psychology from the University of Edinburgh and runs the online book club Black Unicorns, for Black queer people reading Black queer writing.

*Please note that masks will be required at this event (as with all Lighthouse events).

*Accessibility: All events will be professionally filmed & livestreamed. The Roxy is wheelchair accessible (including toilets) and we'll have provisions for neurodivergent guests including stims, quiet space and colour-coded lanyards.

*Events are £6 or free -we completely understand paying for one or two events and then getting free spots for others. The Radical Book Fair is entirely bookshop run and ticket sales are vital to keeping the fair sustainable and paying all our speakers so all support is heartily welcome!

*Featured books: The book & ticket option will select the most recently published book at any given event, if you’re not sure which book you want or don’t want that featured book, then buy a £6 voucher ticket that can be used for any of the books below.

*If you'd like to help make the book fair accessible to more folks, please consider adding to our pay-it-forward fund HERE.