Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi

by Hope Sikolia

Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi represents an underrepresented group, that is, Ugandan writers. Born, bred and educated in Uganda, Makumbi is a Ugandan fiction writer known for representing Ugandan culture and history by adapting oral traditions to writing. Born in
1967, the same year that Uganda became a republic, she sits in a unique position, able to trace the history of the country and explore themes of Ugandan identity, gender and post-coloniality in a capacity that many writers are unable to do.

Makumbi received a B.A. in Education and taught English and Literature at two Ugandan high schools. She then joined Manchester Metropolitan University and achieved an M.A. in Creative Writing. Makumbi stayed in the UK, gaining a PhD in Creative Writing from Lancaster University, where she also lectured in Creative Writing.

Makumbi’s debut novel, Kintu, is a unique historical fiction that follows four generations of the Kintu clan as they struggle to break free from a generational curse. Through these characters, Makumbi charts the history of Uganda, from the monarchies present in 1754 to
the modern, post-colonial state. The novel explores Ganda oral tradition, myth, folktale and history, all while gripping the reader with the distinct stories of each Kintu descendant.

Inspired by her personal experience, Manchester Happened (as titled in the UK/Commonwealth) is a collection of twelve short stories about regular Ugandan immigrants in the UK. Divided into two parts, ‘Departing’ and ‘Returning’, the stories explore the subject’s struggle to stay or leave the UK. Through this collection, Makumbi sheds light on an otherwise undocumented immigrant group in the UK. She sensitively
blends humour within these tales depicting Ugandan family values and struggles immigrants face, such as the insatiable desire to belong and the (often) disappointing reality that is the UK.

Steve McQueen

by James Richards

Steve McQueen is a highly acclaimed director. This is understandable; Steve McQueen is the first and only Black filmmaker to ever win an Oscar for Best Picture. The London-based multihyphenate is more than just a world-class director, however (as if that somehow wasn’t enough). Before he even released a feature, McQueen’s divisive 2007 artwork Queen and Country (a series of stamps modified to display the faces of British soldiers killed in Iraq, a move branded ‘distressing and disrespectful’ by the Royal Mail) served as first class proof of his unflinching artistic brilliance. More recently, McQueen’s Small Axe (2020) and Uprising (2021) masterfully chronicled the history of London’s West Indian community from both fictionalised  (Small Axe) and documentarian (Uprising) perspectives.

Nonetheless, from the social realist dramas with which he began his career (2008’s Hunger, 2011’s Shame) to his later forays into Hollywood filmmaking (2018’s underlooked Widows) McQueen remains a force to be reckoned with whenever he turns his talents to our cinema screens. Whichever discipline he tackles, Steve McQueen proves himself time and again to be one of this country’s most visionary and vital Black artists.

Ella Fitzgerald

 by Atshiga Bonvin

‘The First Lady of Song,’ Ella Fitzgerald, is one of the most incredible jazz vocal artists to grace our time, so much so that she has been given the beautiful title, ‘Queen of Jazz.’ Originally a young dancer, Fitzgerald made her singing debut aged seventeen at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem, New York. Channelling childhood traumas in her performances, her voice held an aged yet youthful quality that Jazz embraced lovingly. Fitzgerald studied artists like Duke Ellington, and Louis Armstrong with whom she duetted on multiple occasions, such as in the infamous and beautiful, ‘Dream A Little Dream of Me.’ However, her sultry yet sweet vocals made her untouchable, with Frank Sinatra stating ‘I believe she is the greatest popular singer in the world. Barring none, male or female.’

In 1938, at only twenty-one, she recorded a jolly and upbeat rendition of the nursery rhyme ‘A-Tisket, A-Tasket.’ The song was top of the charts for 17 weeks, with the album selling 1 million copies. Since then, in her successful and long-lasting career of over sixty years, Fitzgerald has won thirteen Grammy awards and sold over forty million albums, shaping the lively genre of Jazz into what we have today. She has appeared in multiple films, such as Jack Webb’s 1955 film, ‘Pete Kelly’s Blues,’ in which she makes a cameo appearance as singer Maggie Jackson. She also made regular guest appearances on TV, becoming a recognisable and beloved figure of Jazz. Her unique scat singing, the fluidity of her range and her perfect sense of pitch makes her an indelible vocal artist, and jazz royalty.

My personal favourites and recommendations are: ‘Early Autumn,’ ‘Moonlight Serenade,’ and ‘Autumn in New York’.

Benjamin Zephaniah

by Simran Thumber

Dr Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah was born and raised in Handsworth, Birmingham. He was very proud to say that he was ‘born and bred in Brum’ and would often refer to Birmingham as the Jamaican capital of Europe. Zephaniah was a writer, musician, dub poet, actor, activist, and described himself as a ‘naughty boy’ as he liked to challenge the establishment through his work. He was known as the ‘people’s laureate’ because of the central message in all his work which was the importance of sharing compassion and kindness for others regardless of race or ethnic background.

Growing up Zephaniah enjoyed school. However he struggled to read and write which led to him being labelled as dumb or stupid. During those times there was not an awareness of learning disabilities, however, Zephaniah would later discover that he had dyslexia. Education gradually got worse during secondary school as he began to hang around with the wrong crowd who were rejected in the classroom just as he was. This ultimately led to him being excluded from school and hanging out on the streets getting into trouble. In his late teenage years, he was jailed for minor offences such as burglary. After this Zephaniah realised that he must change his life around and at the age of twenty-two he decided to move to London to become a poet.

Zephaniah wrote and performed poetry from a very young age, and it played a huge factor in how he expressed himself, so his decision to become a poet seemed inevitable. At the age of ten, he performed poetry at his local church and gained support of his work from his community. When he got to London he began to perform his poetry and released his first book called Penn Rhythm by a co-operative publishing house. This would be the first of many publications that Zephaniah would release as he began to write novels, nonfiction, young adult and children’s fiction.

As mentioned previously Zephaniah was also a musician and has a large discography of albums and EP’s that became successful. His album Rasta became very popular in Yugoslavia and in 1985 Zephaniah was invited to do a one-off concert which received a huge amount of attention. Most famously when it comes to his music, he is known for being the first artist who created music with The Wailers after Bob Marley had passed away. The Wailers had mentioned how many artists had wanted to collaborate with them following the passing of Bob Marley, however they were imitating Marley and the reason why they liked Zephaniah was because he was authentic to himself. They recorded a single called ‘Free South Africa’, which was a poem already written by Zephaniah and The Wailers recorded the music for it.

Zephaniah would later find out that Nelson Mandela had been given a package filled with his poems and music while he was in prison. During 1990, when Mandela was visiting London after his release from prison, he asked to meet up with Zephaniah and Mandela praised the activism work he did in the UK.

During Zephaniah’s life, he received sixteen honorary doctorates, and in 2011 he received an offer from a professor at Brunell university to teach at their institution. After careful consideration, he decided to take up the position and began to teach a new module called ‘Writing Poetry for Performance.’ He encouraged his students to be original and personal in the oral traditions that they wrote their poetry from.

This is just a small snippet of the extraordinary life that Zephaniah lived. To learn more about his life you must read his autobiography The Life and Rhymes of Benjamin Zephaniah. He is a treasure amongst British writers, and it is safe to say that Zephaniah’s work has a special place in the hearts and bookshelves of many. After understanding the obstacles and prejudice that Zephaniah faced, it could be said that the odds were against him. However, through love, compassion and a willingness to stand up for marginalised people like himself, he could do the thing he always dreamed of, which was to be a poet.

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