Race, culture, identity: Tomiwa Owolade, Kenan Malik

Two outstanding writers challenge our understanding of race in Britain today

The past few years have seen issues of race, culture and identity brought to the centreground of political and social debate. As these ideas remain contested, two writers have made subtle and compelling cases for a reassessment of the many assumptions that govern these discussions. 

Tomiwa Owolade’s new book This is Not America provides a humane, empirical and passionate argument for a new and bold framework for understanding race in Britain today. In Not So Black and White, Kenan Malik approaches the issues with a long view of race, upending many assumptions that underpin today’s heated debate around race and culture. 

They will discuss their new work with festival director Thomas du Plessis.

Tomiwa Owolade

Tomiwa Owolade writes about social, cultural and literary issues for the New Statesman, The Times, the Sunday Times, the Observer, UnHerd and the Evening Standard. He has appeared on BBC Radio 4 and Times Radio discussing some of the ideas in this book. He won top prize at the RSL Giles St Aubyn Awards 2021.

Kenan Malik

Kenan Malik is a writer, lecturer, broadcaster and Observer columnist. A former Moral Maze panellist, he has presented BBC Radio 3’s Nightwavesand Radio 4’s Analysis. His previous books include The Quest for a Moral Compass, and From Fatwa to Jihad, which was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize.