Book of My Life: Pamela Sneed in conversation with Sophia Blyden

About Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi.

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Information

Date and time Friday 23 January 2026 20:40 tot 21:00 uur
Location Filmhuis - Studio A
Price 15,- (up to 30 years or Ooievaarspas)
25,- (Early Bird, up to 26 December, after 35,-)
32,50 (DenHaagPas).

Writers tell us about their favourite book: the book that inspires or touches them, that set their artistic, moral or intellectual compass. In short, the book they would recommend to everyone. Interview: Sophia Blyden.

Pamela Sneed tells about Homegoing (2017) by Yaa Gyasi. Two half-sisters grow up in eighteenth-century Ghana. Effia is married off to an Englishman and goes on to live a life of luxury. Esi is captured, sold into slavery and put on a boat to America. Homegoing tells the story of their descendants' lives over the next three hundred years. Yaa Gyasi shows the impact of slavery on multiple generations and moves freely through history – from tribal warfare and slavery in Ghana to the Civil War in America, and from the coal mines in the southern United States to the mass migration to Manhattan in the twentieth century.

Line-up

Sophia Blyden

(The Netherlands, 1993) is a writer, poet, curator at Oerol and Mensen Zeggen Dingen, and editor of literary magazine Tirade. Her prose and poetry explore themes such as loneliness, power relationships, and her Caribbean roots. She has presented her poetry at a variety of Dutch literary events and publications. In her debut collection Dobberen (2024), the development from girl to woman is central to various storylines. How much control do you have over your body, boundaries and future?

Go to the website of Sophia Blyden
Instagram: @mrspillybean
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Pamela Sneed

(USA) is a New York City-based poet, performer, visual artist, and educator. She is the author of Sweet Dreams (2018), KONG and Other Works (2009) and Imagine Being More Afraid of Freedom than Slavery (1998). Her memoir Funeral Diva (2020), a poetry and prose book, documents growing up in the midst of the AIDS crisis, and focuses specifically on the experiences of Black queer women. Sneed has toured poetry and performance works domestically and abroad. Her recent show, A Tribute to Big Mama Thornton, premiered in 2024 at the Torpedo Theater in Amsterdam. Written and conceived by Sneed, it is a cabaret performance dedicated to the unsung Black woman founder of rock and roll. With a band, music and monologue Sneed sings, speaks and celebrates aspects of Willie Mae Thornton’s life. She won a 2023 Creative Capital award in literature as well as a 2024 NYSCA grant in poetry. Her visual work has appeared in group shows at the Ford Foundation, Company Gallery, and more.

Instagram: @pamela.sneed
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