Booksmith is thrilled to host friend and muse Sarah Ladipo Manyika for the launch of Between Starshine and Clay: Conversations from the African Diaspora. She will be in conversation with the one and only Vendela Vida, author most recently of We Run the Tides. Join us!

PLEASE NOTE: Advance sales for this event have ended, but we will have a few seats available at the door. Questions? Write [email protected].

Please note:

• Safety: ID and proof of full vaccination, including at least one booster shot, will be required at the door. Masks will be required throughout the duration of the event and capacity will be limited to allow indoor distancing. 
• Because we’re limiting capacity, we can't guarantee we'll have space for walk-ins. 
• We are happy to offer *signed copies* of Between Starshine and Clay: order a Book + Seat ticket bundle if you'd like to pick up a signed copy at the event, or order here if you just want a signed copy.
• You can order Vendela Vida's books here.
• If we feel it is not safe to gather, as the event gets closer, we will pivot to a virtual event and your registration will remain valid.
• Questions? Write [email protected].

About the book

In a series of incisive and intimate encounters Sarah Ladipo Manyika introduces some of the most distinguished Black thinkers of our times, including Nobel Laureates Toni Morrison and Wole Soyinka, and civic leaders first lady Michelle Obama and Senator Cory Booker.

She searches for truth with poet Claudia Rankine and historian Henry Louis Gates, Jr. She discusses race and gender with South African filmmaker Xoliswa Sithole and American actor and playwright Anna Deavere Smith. She interrogates the world around us with pioneering publisher Margaret Busby, parliamentarian Lord Michael Hastings and civil rights activist Pastor Evan Mawarire - who dared to take on President Robert Mugabe and has lived to tell the tale. We also meet the living embodiment of the many threads, ideas and histories in this book through the profile of her fabulous 102-year-old friend, Mrs Willard Harris.

In journeys that book-end the collection, Sarah Ladipo Manyika reflects on her own experience of being seen as 'oyinbo' in Nigeria, African in England, Arab in France, coloured in Southern Africa and Black in America, while feeling the least Black and most human among her fellow travellers, explorers all, against the sharp white relief of the South Pole.

About the authors

Sarah Ladipo Manyika is a British-Nigerian-American writer of novels, short stories and essays translated into several languages. She is author of the best-selling novel In Dependence (2009) and multiple shortlisted novel Like A Mule Bringing Ice Cream To The Sun (2016), and has had work published in publications including Granta, The Guardian, the Washington Post and Transfuge among others. Sarah serves as Board Chair for the women's writing residency, Hedgebrook; she was previously Board Director for the Museum of the African Diaspora, San Francisco; and has been a judge for the Goldsmiths Prize, California Book Awards, Aspen Words Literary Prize, and Chair of judges for the Pan-African Etisalat Prize. Photo courtesy of the author.

Vendela Vida is the award-winning author of six novels, including We Run the Tides and Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name. She’s a founding co-editor of the Believer magazine and lives in the Bay Area. Author photo by Lili Peper.

Please note:

• Safety: ID and proof of full vaccination, including at least one booster shot, will be required at the door. Masks will be required throughout the duration of the event and capacity will be limited to allow indoor distancing. 
• Because we’re limiting capacity, we can't guarantee we'll have space for walk-ins. The best way to ensure you’ll get a seat is to order the Book + Seat ticket through this link; you can also RSVP for a free seat right here while supplies last.
• We are happy to offer *signed copies* of Between Starshine and Clay: order a Book + Seat ticket bundle if you'd like to pick up a signed copy at the event, or order here if you just want a signed copy.
• You can order Vendela Vida's books here.
• If we feel it is not safe to gather, as the event gets closer, we will pivot to a virtual event and your registration will remain valid.
• Questions? Write [email protected].