Am I Tone Deaf?
If you are ‘tone-deaf’ can your brain be ‘re-tuned’ by singing lessons? Author and journalist Sathnam Sanghera has spent his life miming to songs. Like one in 15 of us, he believes he is tone deaf. But is he? In this programme he braves both scientific testing and singing lessons in the hope of finding his voice. Vocal coach Heather Mair Thomas believes that whatever the diagnosis, she has ways of making him sing. But will doctors who argue that congenital tone deafness cannot be cured by training alone eclipse her optimism? As Sathnam navigates his way between science and song, he will meet key experts who are dedicated to exploring the scientific highs and lows of tone deafness. For the past decade, neurologists have developed a number of techniques aimed at identifying the root cause of ‘amusia’ known more commonly as tone deafness. If they can understand more about this relatively common condition it will help them to understand more complex neurological disorders that can affect speech or sound perception. Sathnam will also take on board the ‘sound advice’ that fellow sufferers have to offer. Retired Reverend Jim Cross was occupationally obliged to lead his church in song, however his congregation gave him special dispensation to simply say the lines aloud following his diagnosis of ‘amusia’. BBC Radio 4, 11am, Friday September 9th
Writing About Childhood
Do you want to explore your early life? Are you trying to make sense of your upbringing by writing about it? Psychologies Magazine has joined with Penguin Books to bring you an event dedicated to writing about childhood.You’ll hear from Penguin authors Charlotte Moore, who wrote about raising her autistic sons in George And Sam: Autism In The Family, and the history of her family home in Hancox: A House And A Family; and Sathnam Sanghera, Times columnist and author of the highly acclaimed book The Boy With The Topknot: A Memoir Of Love, Secrets And Lies In Wolverhampton. The evening will get under way with a welcome drink for all guests, after which the two authors will explain the process of writing their books, and offer invaluable insights for would-be writers who are seeking to document their own experiences. You’ll go home with a bag of books and a magazine, plus a reading list of the best fictionalised and real-life writing about childhood. Tuesday 7 June, 6.30pm–8.30pm, Penguin HQ, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL. Tickets cost £20, including pre-discussion wine and nibbles, and are available to buy here.
The Bostin’ 60s
This exhibition, drawn largely from the collections of the
Black Country museum services, has been selected by Sathnam
Sanghera, author of The Boy with the Top Knot: A Memoir of Love, Secrets, and Lies in Wolverhampton and regular Times columnist. The 1960s is an era poignant to Sanghera as it was the decade his parents arrived in Wolverhampton. He has selected a wide range of social history ephemera and memorabilia which tells a story of enormous social, cultural and architectural change in the City. Wolverhampton Art Gallery, 19 Feb – 11 Jun 2011
Oldham Book Festival
Readings from and questions about The Boy With The Topknot at Lees Library Community Hub, Thomas Street, Lees, OL4 5DA
Tuesday 28 September, 6.00pm. Tickets: £2.50. Advance booking (optional): 0161 633 5764
Where the Heart Is
The 2010 Tagore Lecture by Imtiaz Dharker, Daljit Nagra and Sathnam Sanghera at the Royal Society of Literature. Monday 21 June 2010 7pm. Do British writers of Asian descent consider their cultural and literary heritage to be principally British, or Asian? , Chaired by novelist and screenwriter Deborah Moggach
Festival of Asian Literature
Sathnam Sanghera will be moderating a discussion on the theme of Migration and Displacement, with new writers Neel Mukherjee, Tishani Doshi (The Peacemakers), Nitasha Kaul (Residue) at the 2010 Asia House Festival of Asian Literature. Wednesday, 26 May, 2010, 6:45pm, Fine Room 1 at Asia House, 63 New Cavendish Street, London W1G 7LP. Tickets go on sale in March. For more information contact Asia House, 020 7307 5454 or enquiries@asiahouse.co.uk
University of Wolverhampton
Sathnam Sanghera will be giving readings from and answering questions about The Boy With The Topknot in the Millennium City Building, Room MC001, City Campus, University of Wolverhampton at 1pm on Saturday, 22 May 2010. Free admission is via ticket only, download and print from thislink
Cheltenham
Sathnam Sanghera will be a writer in residence at The Cheltenham Literary Festival 2009, and will be appearing at an event at midday on Sunday October 19th alongside writers Vesna Maric and Kapka Kassabova.
Words, Bromsgrove
Sathnam Sanghera will be giving readings from and answering questions about The Boy With The Topknot in the Midlands on September 11, at the Harris Brushworks, Stoke Prior, 8pm, £8. For tickets call the organisers 0121 445 5804.
London
Meet and eat with Sathnam Sanghera, who will be talking about his award winning book ‘The Boy with the Topknot’ on Wednesday July 8th 2009, 6.30pm, at Mango Leaf Restaurant, 249-251, Green Street, London, E7 8LJ. Tickets £15 includes two course buffet meal. Tickets available from Newham Bookshop 020 8552 9993.
Rubicon Book Club
Readings from and questions about The Boy With The Topknot at 7:30pm, Tuesday June 30, 2009, at Rubicon, 97 Maple Road, Surbiton, KT6 4AW. £4.
London
Readings from and questions about The Boy With The Topknot at Literary Salon event, Shoreditch House, 7pm, June 3rd 2009.
Essex
Readings from and questions about The Boy With The Topknot at Harold Wood Library, 7:30pm, Monday May 18th 2009. Arundel Road, Harold Wood, Essex, RM3 0RX
Black Country Big Book Fortnight
Readings from and questions about The Boy With The Topknot at Central Library, High Street, West Bromwich, West Midlands, B70 8DZ. 7.30pm, Friday May 15th 2009. £3.00/ £1.50 for library members, and £5.00/ £2.50 for non-members. Info: 0121 569 4904
Birmingham
Readings from and questions about The Boy With The Topknot at 11am on Monday 11th May 2009, Northfield Library
Redbridge Book and Media Festival
Readings from and questions about The Boy With The Topknot in Gloucester Room in Ilford Central library, Clements Road, Ilford IG1 1EA on Wednesday April 22nd, 6:30pm – 8pm. Free.
Tongues on Fire Film Festival
Sathnam Sanghera in conversation with director Gurinder Chadha, Tongues on Fire Film Festival and Women in Film and Television. Friday March 13th, 6:30pm, Courthouse Kempinski Hotel in the cinema space.
Conference
Readings from and questions about If You Don’t Know Me By Now at the Delivering Race Equality in Mental Health Conference, QE2 Conference Centre, London, SW1, Thursday March 12th
3.15pm.
Tongues on Fire
Tongues on Fire, the 11th annual Asian Film Festival, in association with The Royal College of Psychiatrists, presents an evening with Sathnam Sanghera, followed by reception. Tuesday, 9th December, 6:30pm, in the Auditorium at the Society of Chemical Industry, 14-15 Belgrave Square, London SW1X 8PS. Limited tickets, booking necessary, further information from info@tonguesonfire.com
South Yardley Library
Readings from and questions about If You Don’t Know Me By Now at South Yardley Library, Yardley Road, Birmingham, B25 8LT. 30 October 2008, 7.00pm, free entry.
Ilkley Literary Festival
Sathnam Sanghera in discussion with Yasmin
Hai, author of The Making of Mr Hai’s Daughter, Sunday 19th October, 5.30pm
Durham Literary Festival
Event with Yasmin Hai on Saturday 18th October
Gala Theatre, Millennium Place (studio 1), 2pm
Redbridge Book Festival
Event on Wednesday 15th October at Ilford library. 7:00 – 8:30pm, Gloucester Room, Central Library, Clements Road, Ilford, IG1 1EA. Info: 020 8708 2857. Free but booking necessary via email: arts&Events@redbridge.gov.uk
Cheltenham Literary Festival
Join Yasmin Hai, whose autobiography The Making of Mr Hai’s Daughter explores her father’s determination to assimilate into his British future after arriving from Pakistan, and Sathnam Sanghera, who journeys into his family’s unimaginable past in memoir If You Don’t Know Me by Now. They discuss their work, exploring identity, memory and the power of family memoir. Event on Monday October 13th, tickets £6, 7.30-8.30pm, Cheltenham Town Hall
South Asian Literary Festival
Sathnam Sanghera in discussion with Nikita Lalwani, author of Gifted, Sunday 12th October, The Barber Room, The Sage, Gateshead, 2.30 – 4pm
Edinburgh International Book Festival
Sathnam Sanghera in discussion with Imran Ahmad, author of Unimagined: A Muslim Boy Meets the West, 14:30, August 9th 2008, in The Peppers Theatre.
Leytonstone Festival
Newham Books will present a discussion between Jacqueline Walker, author of Pilgrim State and Sathnam Sanghera in Leytonstone Library’s main hall at 18.30 on Sunday 6th July 2008. 6 Church Lane, Leytonstone, London, E11 1HG.
Wolverhampton Central Library
Readings from and questions about If You Don’t Know Me By Now at the Alan Garner Centre, Old Hall Street, next to the Central Library on Wednesday 21 May 2008, 7.30pm, Tickets £3/£2. For tickets and further information call 01902 552061
The Culture Show
The BBC TWO arts programme will be running a feature on If You Don’t Know Me By Now. Saturday 22 March 2008, 19:10