Inua Ellams to release first full poetry collection, ‘The Actual F*ck’
Posted on: 2nd October 2020
Performer, graphic artist, designer, playwright, and poet Inua Ellams will soon release his first full poetry collection, The Actual F*ck.
Written on his phone, in transit, between meetings, before falling asleep, and just after waking, this is poetry as a polemic, as an act of resistance, as a middle finger to a litany of grievances.
The Actual is a symphony of personal and political fury – sometimes probing delicately, sometimes burning with raw energy. In 55 poems that swerve and crackle rare music, Inua unleashes a full-throated assault on empire and its legacies of racism, injustice, and toxic masculinity.
At its heart, this book confronts the absolutism and ‘foolish machismo’ of hero culture – from Trump to Rudyard Kipling, Batman, and the Joker. Through the thick gauze of history, these breathtaking poems look the world square in the face and ask, “What the actual-?”
In celebration of his new book, Inua will be completing an online book launch for The Actual in collaboration with Penned in the Margins, beginning on Monday 5 October 2020. Book your tickets here.
Online book launch dates
Monday 5 October – The Actual Publication Day Livestream – 8pm BST/ Twitter @PennedintheM
Tuesday 6 October – F*ck / Tupac – Film & Visual Art Drop – 11am BST/ inuaellams.com/news
Wednesday 7 October – F*ck / Beethoven – BBCRadio3 Essay Drop – 11am BST/ inuaellams.com/news
Thursday 8 October – F*ck / Batman – Binaural Radio Play Drop – 11am BST/ inuaellams/com/news
Friday 9 October – The Actual F*cking Book Launch – Zoom – 7pm BST/ theactualbooklaunch.eventbrite.com
Hosted by Inua Ellams with contributions from: Raymond Antrobus, Dai George, Keisha Thompson, Zaahida Nabagereka, JJ Bola, Nikesh Shukla, Lavinia Singer, Anthony Anaxaforou, Theresa Ikoko, and Afua Hirsch with live readings from: Lily Loveless (Skins), Sope Dirisu (Gangs of London), Natalie Simpson (Outlander, Three Sisters), Andrew McMillan (Guardian First Book Award) and the legendary Lenny Henry (Everything!).
#thaswassup
Inua has 17 other books in print, a combination of plays, and poetry. You can see Inua’s full range of books here.
