Please join Malik Al Nasir, Debbie Watson and Jo Staines for a conversation around the transformative power of a mentor, the healing that is inherent within artistic expression, the systemic failure of the establishment and care system, and the need to reform social policy.

'Letters to Gil' is Malik Al Nasir's memoire. It tells the story of his journey from being taken into care at just nine years old. Malik went into the care system not because he was orphaned but because his father fell ill, and his mother struggled to cope. Having lost her parental rights to a care order, she was unable to protect him from what became a series of secure children's homes, with increasing levels of abuse, racism and indifference from social workers and social services more widely. Following a chance meeting as a penniless, semi literate youth with the revered poet, author, and civil rights activist Gil Scott-Heron, Malik's journey took a transformational turn.

This event uses spoken word poetry, film and audio book, to explore the implications of the care system Malik experienced in the 1970's and 80’s and asks questions about contemporary care provisions and experiences in the wake of the Independent Care Review.

Malik Al Nasir is an author, a performance poet, academic and filmmaker from Liverpool, whose remarkable life has been the subject of much media attention internationally. Malik is currently writing a new book about his roots quest back to the slave plantations of Demerara out in 2022, which is also the subject of his PhD at Cambridge University. His second book will be published by William Collins, an imprint of Harper Collins.

Signed copies of 'Letters to Gil' will be available to buy on the night from local independent bookseller Bookhaus.

To register, please click here.

It is our understanding that this venue is wheelchair accessible .

There is no parking available at Priory Road Complex. Street parking is a mix of local resident's (9am - 7pm Mon-Fri on a permit basis) and pay and display bays which allow parking up to 3 hours.