Celebrate James Baldwin’s centenary with a fascinating book and film – If Beale Street Could Talk!

Born in New York in 1924, the critically acclaimed American writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin was a groundbreaking force in driving social change. One hundred years later, his fiction and essays continue to pose fundamental questions about several pressing social issues from confronting racial prejudice and championing equal rights to attitudes towards sexuality and class. In short, they remain just as relevant today as they did at the time of their release.

To celebrate James Baldwin’s centenary, we are working in partnership with Penguin Random House and the Chorleywood Film Club to hold an engaging, thought-provoking event as part of our commitment to culture within the local community. The event will focus on Baldwin’s powerful, lyrical 1974 novel If Beale Street Could Talk and Barry Jenkins’ equally mesmerising film adaptation from 2018. Attendees can come to both parts of the event – the book discussion and the film screening – or either section in isolation.

7 pm: Discussion of James Baldwin’s novel If Beale Street Could Talk – this will take the form of an informal book-group-style discussion, so ideally, attendees for this part of the event should read the novel in advance. Cost: This discussion is FREE to all attendees, and the novel can be purchased in advance from the Chorleywood and Gerrards Cross Bookshops for £6 (RRP £8.99).

8 pm: Film screening – If Beale Street Could Talk (BBFC Rating: 15 years and over). Cost: £7.

10 pm: Close