Gang Culture in Fiction: Bloomsbury Salon with Stephen Kelman & Nick Lake

Delve inside the world of teenage gang culture from Haiti to London with Man Booker Prize shortlisted author Stephen Kelman and acclaimed new author Nick Lake.

Pigeon English is the tale of Harri, a young Ghanaian who starts a murder investigation of his own when a boy is knifed to death on his high street. In Darkness, set during the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake, is the story of a boy called Shorty who is searching for the twin sister he lost seven years ago.

Julia Eccleshare, the Guardian’s Children’s Books Editor, will be interviewing our authors and chairing the discussion about writing authentic teenage voices in fiction.

Praise for Stephen Kelman
“A powerful story…It paints a vivid portrait with honesty, sympathy and wit, of a much neglected milieu, and it addresses urgent social questions. It is horrifying, tender and funny…Pigeon English will be read by millions” Daily Telegraph

Praise for Nick Lake
"Nick Lake weaves Haiti's dark past with its painful present into a story that is gripping, moving and uplifting. This novel dances with extraordinary confidence from one era to another, mixing the contemporary with the historical to create a rich and fascinating dialogue across the centuries. In Darkness is a stunningly original and hard-hitting debut" William Sutcliffe