{"id":223,"date":"2024-07-26T12:37:36","date_gmt":"2024-07-26T11:37:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/evaristo-symposium-2025\/?page_id=223"},"modified":"2025-09-08T11:33:51","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T10:33:51","slug":"keynote","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/evaristo-symposium-2025\/keynote\/","title":{"rendered":"Keynote"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]We are honoured to welcome <strong>Professor Suzanne Scafe <\/strong>to give the keynote lecture.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>KEYNOTE: Cartographies of Affect: Bernardine Evaristo\u2019s London Fictions<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bernardine Evaristo has described London as one of her muses, a place with which she has a deep creative connection: it is the site around which many of her novels\u2019 meanings are framed and given form, even when the narrative stretches across other spaces and places, both mythical and real. My talk focuses on her narratives\u2019 construction of London as a space of affective belonging and on the use of space and place to reimagine the past and to reconfigure the materiality of a present that is also future facing. In order to trace the circulation of affect in the work I analyse, I draw on Foucault\u2019s concept of space as heterogeneous, as a set of relations, networks and contradictions. He argues that \u2018heterotopias\u2019, places and spaces whose meaning and intention are subverted, are the most dramatic example of heterogeneity. Evaristo\u2019s city spaces are rich with affect: hate, violence and disappointment as well as compassion, love and optimism. Through its representations of intimacy and of processes of social interaction and reproduction, the texts\u2019 language, described by the author herself as \u2018full of emotion\u2019 <em>(The<\/em> <em>Verb<\/em>, BBC Radio 3, 12 November 2021), strengthens and deepens the feelings evinced by place and space. In her work, London, and by extension Britain, are not merely staging posts or dwelling places en route from or to somewhere else, but places and spaces in which African diasporic peoples have become rooted.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-422 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/evaristo-symposium-2025\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/340\/2025\/04\/Scafe_profile-1-225x300.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/evaristo-symposium-2025\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/340\/2025\/04\/Scafe_profile-1-225x300.jpeg 225w, https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/evaristo-symposium-2025\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/340\/2025\/04\/Scafe_profile-1-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/evaristo-symposium-2025\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/340\/2025\/04\/Scafe_profile-1-1152x1536.jpeg 1152w, https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/evaristo-symposium-2025\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/340\/2025\/04\/Scafe_profile-1-1536x2048.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/evaristo-symposium-2025\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/340\/2025\/04\/Scafe_profile-1.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Suzanne Scafe<\/strong> is Visiting Professor in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Brighton and Associated Senior Researcher at Vrije Universiteit Brussel. She was a member of OWAAD and Brixton Black Women&#8217;s Group, and with Beverley Bryan and Stella Dadzie co-authored the landmark text <a href=\"https:\/\/www.versobooks.com\/en-gb\/products\/662-heart-of-the-race?srsltid=AfmBOorlg0oqfT1nouADBoaypevOJsEGnPgLmP9BV_Q8SKCZwh-LwmvZ\"><em>The Heart of the Race: Black Women\u2019s Lives in Britain <\/em><\/a>(Virago 1985; Verso 2018). Suzanne has written extensively on Black British and Caribbean literature and culture. She is the author of <em>Teaching Black Literature <\/em>(Virago, 1989) and co-editor of several collections of essays, most recently the interdisciplinary anthology <a href=\"https:\/\/www.routledge.com\/African-Caribbean-Women-Interrogating-DiasporaPost-Diaspora\/Scafe-Dunn\/p\/book\/9780367726140?srsltid=AfmBOool8gw-yGRsKiOlYacyRYZO1sD3PoqTGP2qK4xakRk0g4dV0SBK\"><em>African-Caribbean Women Interrogating Diaspora\/(Post) Diaspora <\/em><\/a>(Routledge, 2022). Her latest book, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.routledge.com\/Reading-to-Resist-Fiction-by-Contemporary-Black-British-Women-Writers\/Scafe\/p\/book\/9781032546292?srsltid=AfmBOorrQQhnyTi_o4rs84ciq1g34r6BEhx8_bg2H02TFClbdHbB0sSk\">Reading to Resist: <\/a><span data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\">Fiction by Contemporary Black British Women Writers,<\/span><\/em> was published by Routledge in July 2025.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]We are honoured to welcome Professor Suzanne Scafe to give the keynote lecture. KEYNOTE: Cartographies of Affect: Bernardine Evaristo\u2019s London Fictions Bernardine Evaristo has described London as one of her&#8230;<a class=\"read-more\" href=\"&#104;&#116;&#116;&#112;&#115;&#58;&#47;&#47;&#114;&#101;&#115;&#101;&#97;&#114;&#99;&#104;&#46;&#114;&#101;&#97;&#100;&#105;&#110;&#103;&#46;&#97;&#99;&#46;&#117;&#107;&#47;&#101;&#118;&#97;&#114;&#105;&#115;&#116;&#111;&#45;&#115;&#121;&#109;&#112;&#111;&#115;&#105;&#117;&#109;&#45;&#50;&#48;&#50;&#53;&#47;&#107;&#101;&#121;&#110;&#111;&#116;&#101;&#47;\">Read More ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":966,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"__cvm_playback_settings":[],"__cvm_video_id":"","footnotes":""},"coauthors":[17],"class_list":["post-223","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Keynote - Bernardine Evaristo Symposium<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/evaristo-symposium-2025\/keynote\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Keynote - Bernardine Evaristo Symposium\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]We are honoured to welcome Professor Suzanne Scafe to give the keynote lecture. KEYNOTE: Cartographies of Affect: Bernardine Evaristo\u2019s London Fictions Bernardine Evaristo has described London as one of her...Read More &gt;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/evaristo-symposium-2025\/keynote\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Bernardine Evaristo Symposium\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-08T10:33:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/evaristo-symposium-2025\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/340\/2025\/04\/Scafe_profile-1-225x300.jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"Nicola Abram\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/evaristo-symposium-2025\/keynote\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/evaristo-symposium-2025\/keynote\/\",\"name\":\"Keynote - Bernardine Evaristo Symposium\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/evaristo-symposium-2025\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-07-26T11:37:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-08T10:33:51+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/evaristo-symposium-2025\/keynote\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/evaristo-symposium-2025\/keynote\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/evaristo-symposium-2025\/keynote\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/evaristo-symposium-2025\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Keynote\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/evaristo-symposium-2025\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/evaristo-symposium-2025\/\",\"name\":\"Bernardine Evaristo Symposium\",\"description\":\"Thursday 6 November 2025\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/evaristo-symposium-2025\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/evaristo-symposium-2025\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/evaristo-symposium-2025\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Bernardine Evaristo Symposium\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/evaristo-symposium-2025\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/evaristo-symposium-2025\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/evaristo-symposium-2025\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/340\/university.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/evaristo-symposium-2025\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/340\/university.png\",\"width\":575,\"height\":609,\"caption\":\"Bernardine Evaristo Symposium\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/evaristo-symposium-2025\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Keynote - Bernardine Evaristo Symposium","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/evaristo-symposium-2025\/keynote\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Keynote - Bernardine Evaristo Symposium","og_description":"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]We are honoured to welcome Professor Suzanne Scafe to give the keynote lecture. 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