Add Pauline Black to the illustrious list of 2-Tone era musicians who are writing books about their personal and musical experiences. The singer, actress and TV presenter has just announced that her memoir 'Black By Design: A 2-Tone Memoir'' is now available for pre-order through Amazon.com in the U.K. and will be published in August of this year.
While it will more than likely touch on Black's experiences with The Selecter, its sure to explore more personal issues related to Black's experiences as a mixed race child being adopted by a white family. It will also examine issues of racial identity during a time that the U.K. was struggling with its own issues of racism and the challenges of assimilating Black and Asian immigrants into British society and culture. In that regard, it may touch on topics raised by Neville Staple in his memoir 'Original Rude Boy: From Borstal To The Specials' which was his recollection of life growing up in Coventry and detailed his Black British experience.
I asked Black about her book during an interview I conducted with her last summer. Here is what she shared with me about the process of writing her memoir and the difficult questions and topics related to race and identity that she explores:
You just signed a publishing deal for your memoir 'Black By Design.' What was it like to write a book? Did you sit down and write everyday?
I have been writing short stories and opinion pieces for BBC Radio 4 in the UK for years, since the early 90’s. I also wrote a novel in the mid 90’s “The Goldfinches” which picked up publishing interest, but then the recession hit and money was scarce and the interest evaporated. Therefore I did not approach my book as a novice. I knew that I wanted to write my own memoir. When a “ghost writer” is used it is usually obvious. The main difference between my first outing into the book world and now, is that I got a literary agent. Without a literary agent it is almost impossible these days for a writer to be taken seriously by publishers. Publishing interest in my memoir was there from the beginning, largely because I was the only female among the bands that did the legendary “2-tone tour” in 1979 and also because I have extended my repertoire over the past 30 years to include, acting, presenting, radio broadcasting & writing, while still remaining active as a musician throughout the 90’s and Noughties. Therefore my story covered a wider brief. I didn’t want my memoir to be just about the brief period of the 2-tone years. Fortunately my literary agent and publisher agreed with my approach. For the book to have been signed by influential, maverick publisher “Serpent’s Tail” is very much a dream come true. They have a great publishing history reflecting many of the books that have influenced me throughout my life, most notably many of the “Harlem Renaissance” writers like Langston Hughes and Nella Larsen.
Primarily, “Black By Design” is about my search for my cultural and racial heritage, which, I discovered, had surprisingly original beginnings. It vigorously discusses the twin evils of “racism” and “sexism”, which gave me the motivation to join a 2-tone band in 1979 and enter the ongoing musical polemic offered by that inclusion.
I wanted my book to be “ideas driven”, to ask some difficult questions about what it meant to grow up black in a predominantly racist Britain in the 50’s and 60’s and how being adopted into a white working class family influenced my decision to choose music as a career path. I didn’t want to write some dishonest potted history of my private life or just a scrupulously kept diary. Hopefully I have achieved my goal.
Black by Design is now available for pre-order from Amazon.com in the U.K.
Personally, I can't wait to read the book!
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