The Guernsey Literary Festival has added another event to its already packed programme. It was just too good to refuse!

Colin Grant, historian and BBC producer, will read from his tough and tender father/son memoir Bageye at the Wheel: A 1970s West Indian Childhood in Suburbia.

To his fellow West Indians who assemble every weekend for the all-night poker game at Mrs Knight's, he is always known as Bageye. There aren't many black men in Luton in 1972 and most of them gather at Mrs Knight's - Summer Wear, Pioneer, Anxious, Tidy Boots - each has his nickname. Bageye already finds it a struggle to feed his family on his wage from Vauxhall Motors, but now his wife Blossom has set her heart on her sons going to private school.

In this wonderful memoir Colin Grant looks at his father through the eyes of his ten-year-old self. Colin is Bageye's favourite 'pickney', and often his reluctant companion in his latest attempt to placate Blossom with another DIY project, or a little cash. When he acquires a less than roadworthy old car, Bageye sets himself up as an unofficial minicab service, despite not having a driving licence. More profitable are his marijuana deals, until the day he mistakenly entrusts Colin with choosing a hiding place for a huge bag of ganja...

[caption id="attachment_78" align="alignnone" width="233"] Colin Grant[/caption]

I can’t wait to read this book, and I’ll do a full review of it when I have, but I wanted to let you know about this event!  While he’s in Guernsey, Colin is also going to interview – and film – some teachers at Vauvert Primary School about technology. 

Saturday 15 September. 18.00-19.00, Barclays Hub (£6/£4)

Book tickets to see Colin via this link: 

http://www.ticketsource.co.uk/search/searchPerformanceDetails.asp?performance_id=46464&sid=

Sophie