Londoner Jay Bernard was poet in residence at the George Padmore Institute in 2016 as part of the 50 years celebration of New Beacon Books. They were the GPI’s first poet of residence.

During their time with the GPI Jay produced a body of ingenious work in response to material found in the archive, in particular the New Cross Massacre collection. Not only does Jay's work represent a new generation’s creative response to the material but the piece encapsulates the essence and sensitivity of the massacre and its horror. Sometimes writing in the voices of those killed, and using archive film, video and audio, Jay re-visits the New Cross Massacre and asks what we can learn from it in a new age of Brexit, Trump and the resurgent far right.

By Ruth Bush & Jay Bernard

Publish by New Beacon Books