Book Reading & Walk | 5.05.23

$0.00

BGX Gallery (Seaport)
192 Front Street NY, NY 10038 | 7pm-10pm

reading with Paterson Joseph | 7pm-8:30pm
walk with Kamau Ware | 8:30pm-10pm

The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho: A Reading

Join author and award-winning actor Paterson Joseph in conversation with Kamau Ware, founder of the Black Gotham Experience. These two friends will discuss Black art, ancestry, history and literature in an informal evening of joyful celebration. The evening will feature a book signing of Paterson's first novel, The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho. Afterward, Kamau will lead the Sarah's Fire walk, where he and Paterson will continue their sharing with the circles assembled for the evening.

More about Paterson and Ignatius Sancho.

Paterson Joseph is an award-winning actor who has been fascinated by Sancho for many years. He wrote and starred in the play Sancho: An Act of Remembrance in 2018, which was staged in the UK as well as the US. A veteran of the stage, TV, and film, Paterson has appeared on The Mosquito Coast, an Apple TV+ original series; Doctor Who; Noughts + Crosses; and other BBC programs. The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho is his first novel.

“A winning first novel. . . . With the conjuring tricks of historical fiction, Joseph has taken an actual man and, two and a half centuries later, made him as thoroughly himself, and as fully present, as he was the first time round.“
—Thomas Mallon, New York Times Book Review

“It’s a tough task for a writer to set themselves, but the care and research shine through in every chapter. This is a tragicomedy of the first order, and not to be missed.“
—The Guardian

It’s finally time for Charles Ignatius Sancho to tell his story, one that begins on a slave ship in the Atlantic and ends at the very center of London life. . . . A lush and immersive tale of adventure, artistry, romance, and freedom set in eighteenth-century England and based on a true story

It’s 1746 and Georgian London is not a safe place for a young Black man. Charles Ignatius Sancho must dodge slave catchers and worse, and his main ally—a kindly duke who taught him to write—is dying. Sancho is desperate and utterly alone. So how does the same Charles Ignatius Sancho meet the king, write and play highly acclaimed music, become the first Black person to vote in Britain, and lead the fight to end slavery? Through every moment of this rich, exuberant tale, Sancho forges ahead to see how much he can achieve in one short life: “I had little right to live, born on a slave ship where my parents both died. But I survived, and indeed, you might say I did more.”

More about Kamau Ware and Sarah's Fire.

Kamau Ware is an award-winning visual artist and storyteller based in New York City. Kamau creates new narratives about the African Diaspora’s history through photography, films, exhibitions and events. In 2010, he founded the Black Gotham Experience (BGX), which utilizes art and walks to illustrate the impact of the African Diaspora in New York City. The Black Gotham Experience has been in the Seaport District of Lower Manhattan since 2017, serving as a gallery and entry point for BGX walks. Kamau has become widely sought after for his work as an artist / historian. He has been commissioned to create original works by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, the Apollo Theater, the Mile Long Opera, The Shed, Creative Time, and has new works in process for Morris Jumel Mansion and Lincoln Center.

Sarah's Fire is the second of five in the core stories of the Black Gotham Experience. Starting in 1664 in the small town known as Land of the Blacks on day two of British New York. Sarah’s Fire is a tale set on the southern tip of the island Manhattan that is home to both free and enslaved Black people. This walking tour illustrates the peculiar universe of urban slavery in a port city with deep ties to the sugar plantations of the West Indies. A key persona in this story is an enslaved woman named Sarah who is one of 29 people that participate in the first militarized Black rebellion on the island of Manhattan on April 6 1712.

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BGX Gallery

Front St between Fulton & John Street / Seaport District (Manhattan)

Train Access: A, C, 2, 3, 4, 5, J, or Z to Fulton Street.

#InsideBlackGotham

*Segments of the experience may be live-streamed to and/or recorded.*

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