Social Work alumnus Gaverne Bennett recently created a Black Literature Timeline with the British Library. We caught up with Gaverne to ask about the importance of this timeline and how it felt to have produced such a well received piece of work.
1. Can you tell us a bit about yourself and what you studied at Royal Holloway?
I live in London and am married with three children. I grew up in and was born in East London and am of Jamaican descent. I have worked in education in various capacities and at different levels – FE College, Secondary, and primary. I recently qualified as a social worker. I have done a Black History Timeline for The Guardian newspaper (twice now: 2008 and 2020) which became their bestselling wall chart series ever. More recently I created a Black Literature timeline for The British library. I have created other timelines for The Guardian and other organisations on subjects as varied as the 1929 Wall Street Crash, International Women’s Day, Holocaust Memorial Day that have won other awards. I studied a Social Work MSc at Royal Holloway. I have just qualified with a distinction (including my dissertation) of which I am very proud. It isn’t only a question of what I studied at Royal Holloway but when i.e. it was in the middle of a global pandemic. I could not have done as well as I did without the fantastic teaching and support of the lecturers/support staff in the Social Work department in general, but especially Stefan Brown, Dr Louise O’Connor, Karl Mason, and Professor Anna Gupta.
2. You recently created a Black Literature Timeline with The British Library which The Guardian promoted, can you tell us the importance this timeline in restoring Black voices, art and history into the syllabus?
This timeline is particularly close to my heart. I hope it will be apparent from reading it that there is a rich vein of literature – that is central to world literature, however you define that – that for one reason or another has been ignored or neglected. Particularly in terms of the curriculum, the absence of Black contributions in art, science and elsewhere is an incalculable loss because it means up until now none of us have had a complete picture. For example, I think it is almost impossible to understand why Shakespeare may have written Othello with a central black leading character unless you understand that a book by John Leo Africanus called A Histoire of Africa - a popular book during Shakespeare’s lifetime – may have influenced him. I have distinct memories when I was growing up of people saying with a straight face that Black people had no history, never contributed anything whatsoever to the literary treasures of mankind. In restoring this important literary tradition it means it is easier to see the Black Literature around us today as part of something bigger, of world literature; hopefully, that will make everyone understand literary talent exists in all groups, not in all the same places.
3. How long have you been working on the Black Literature Timeline?
The direct answer to your question is that I worked on The Black Literature for six months in all. I started it earnest last Christmas i.e. December 2020. I had been having conversations with various academics and friends about the importance of Black literature during the summer of 2020 when the George Floyd protests were going on. I remember one of my responses to everything that happened was to re-read James Baldwin, Ralph Ellisons ‘The Invisible Man’ and Alex Wheatles books. However, if you look carefully at The Guardian Black History timeline – both in 2008 and 2020 - it is possible to see that black literature is an important thread that runs throughout it so really, I have been working on The Black Literature timeline for at least 12 years. In a former life, I was actually a book editor for a national magazine in the late 90s. I was given the choice to join the magazine to do films or books and chose books without hesitation. So, in thinking about it, this particular timeline started as far back as 1999 when I interviewed people like Zadie Smith, George Pelecanos (one of the creators of The Wire), and Walter Mosley. I got to know Alex Wheatle, who wrote part of the introduction for the British Library Black Literature timeline and played an important role in it too. When I really think about The Black Literature Timeline, it can be said to have started in my childhood when my mum had books about Mary Seacole, Maya Angelou laying around the house; or when she took me to the library every Saturday where I picked up books about Anansi (a folklore figure, an African deity, who is held in high regard West Africa and the Caribbean).
4. How does it feel to have produced such an important piece of work for the British Library?
Imagine you have an idea in your head but can see no way of it happening. Then imagine it not only happens, but better than you imagined it. Hopefully, that should give you some idea of how it feels to have the privilege of producing such an important piece of work for the British Library, a library which I consider to be the best in the world. I thought about doing a Black Literature timeline as far back as 2008 and was actually featured on a The British Library page talking about how I had put together The Guardian Black History timeline in there. It is also important because I got a chance to bring great writers like Una Marson to public attention; a writer who in my opinion should be a household name. I felt a level of responsibility when I was putting this together because I was attempting to tell the complex story of supreme storytellers and writers like Phillis Wheatley (poet) or Claudia Jones (originator of the Notting Hill Carnival). Then there is the feeling of fulfilment that comes from working with an immensely creative and collaborative group/team of people like Urvashi Patankar (designer), Alex Wheatle, Dr Cecily Jones & Dr Osborne, Ralia Sofola, Dave Moore, Jon Wedderburn, Owen Gibson and Joseph Harker (at The Guardian) and the whole team at the British Library as well (especially Katie Adams and Alex Whitfield). I must mention my wife Peggy who read the first and last draft of this timeline and my children – Aphra, Brontyrre, and Lysander – who helpfully suggested authors and told me directly when something was rubbish! Of course, with the British Library being one of the best libraries in the world, with an excellent archive, it feels like a privilege to access all of that along with getting the opportunity to work with the great team there.
5. What inspired you to create a Literature Timeline?
The inspirations are so numerous it is difficult to pick just a few but I will try! My inspirations divides into two really: the long term and the more recent. My long-term inspirations are writers like Una Marson, Richard Wright, Alex Wheatle, Dumas and Toni Morrison. For me these writers in their lives, in their writings, have given me so much hope over the years. Whenever I feel like stopping, or tired, I think about them, read their great works, and my doubts fall away. More recently a great inspiration has been talking to young people in the light of the Black Lives Matter and George Floyd protests, especially last year. I had some really intriguing conversations with young people and listened to a lot of podcasts. It made me realise that my timelines are not really about the past, but the future. I felt that my timelines were the best way of using the past in service of a better future. A young person who really inspired me, really encapsulated a sense of hope for me, was Marcus Rashford. I first saw what he did last year for children, then listened to what he was saying carefully. I was really impressed when he promoted reading amongst young people and felt that the time for a Black Literary Timeline had come. Like him, I feel that it is super important that young people understand that reading can give them the strengths of strengths: in understanding history, black history, their own history; in gaining new insights and understanding what is happening around you; above all, how reading in some ways is the most powerful (and safest way!) of learning who you really are and seeing the full spectrum of your individuality, your uniqueness. Apart from helping to restore black literatures place in the literary canon what also inspired me was the idea that a future Una Marson or Toni Morrison will hopefully read this timeline and realise the great things she is capable of it. As I said in the introduction to the Black Literature timeline, if the timeline helps whoever reads it realise their deepest dreams, then it would have served its purpose. This is one of my deepest inspirations/aspirations…
6. What was your favourite thing about studying at Royal Holloway?
My favourite thing about Royal Holloway was the great Social Work department. The lecturers there created an atmosphere where I felt able to develop, grow and express my ideas. They were able to maintain a great learning atmosphere (in the middle of a global pandemic!) where amongst everything I felt I got the support when it mattered most and there was still space to laugh in lectures. I also really enjoyed working with the student cohort I studied with. They were some conversations that I had that really made me think deeply and I appreciated the fact they wouldn’t let anything -a global pandemic, dissertations, or whatever – get in the way of us completing the course or enjoying laughter and life itself whenever the opportunity presented itself. I have to say I have a soft spot for Senate House Library. I had some of my finest intellectual moments soaking up the atmosphere in there. Though having said that, you might have gathered that I do have a soft spot for libraries in general!
7. How do you like to spend your free time?
I am going to be cliche and say that I like to spend my free time with my family, but actually it is the truth, especially since the first lockdown which brought a lot of things into focus for me (as I think it did for everyone). It will surprise readers to know that I love reading and particularly enjoyed seeing a film version of a book I have loved for years – Dune – being giving the full Hollywood treatment. I was happy to read that some of the books of Toni Morrison and Octavia Butler book - authors I deeply respect and admire - might be filmed soon. I also like running and swimming – having run the London and Paris Marathons – and hope to do more marathons and triathletes. I got into Tai Chi during the first lockdown and actually enjoy walking. I do love watching things on Netflix or whatever like Squid Game, Lovecraft Country, The Strain, Bridgerton etc., things like that, whenever the opportunity presents itself. I hope one day I will be able to re-indulge in my passion for travelling that I developed when I worked at BA.