Started ten years ago on a dare in New York, the Bushwick Book Club now hosts events in cities across the US, in Malmo Sweden, and in London, England. Employing the talents of local songwriters, actors, poets, and even chefs, the artists are tasked with plumbing the depths of a chosen literary gem to create that rare and beautiful thing – a new song (or performance, poem, film or snack). The artists then come together to perform their creations at a live public show.
On Saturday 25 January 2020, the Bushwick Book Club presented artists’ responses to CULL, Tanvir Bush’s sharp, outrageous, and uncomfortable satire about the deadly underside side of discrimination. Author and researcher Dr. Tanvir Bush, wrote this dark satire about the current British welfare system highlighting the desperate plight of disabled people in Britain today.
Maggie Gee has written of this novel: ‘Where is the satirist we need now, with the welfare state in chaos and politics a TV reality show? She is the fabulous, funny, sharp, outrageous Tanvir Bush, and Britain must read her.” Artists have long been associated with holding a mirror up to society, and with its excellent cast of songwriters and disturbing but wickedly funny subject matter.
Bushwick Bookclub: London is produced and hosted by musician, Amanda Thorpe, and literature-lover, Georgina Jackson. Over the past year, they have gathered a selection of London talent to respond to A Christmas Memory (Truman Capote), Little Liar (Julia Grey), The Note (Zoë Folbigg), Reservoir 13 (Jon McGregor), To Throw Away Unopened (Viv Albertine), Galapagos (Kurt Vonnegut) and How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Dr. Suess).