MLF24: An Evening with Neneh Cherry

December 1988. 24 year-old Swedish rapper and songwriter Neneh Cherry takes to the Top of the Pops stage in a gold bra and gold bomber jacket, seven months pregnant, to perform her hit single Buffalo Stance, writing herself into legend in the process.

Now 60, Neneh joins us to discuss her beautiful and deeply personal memoir A Thousand Threads. From a childhood in Sweden and New York with her artist mother Moki and musician father Don Cherry to Sierra Leone to London. From jazz to punk to hip hop. From family to friendships to love. Neneh will discuss her creative life, her collaborations and her navigation of fame in conversation with Booker Prize-winning author Bernardine Evaristo (Girl, Woman, Other).

Neneh is a Swedish singer-songwriter, rapper and producer. She has released six critically acclaimed studio albums, including Raw Like Sushi, Homebrew and Broken Politics. She won two Brit Awards, an MTV Europe Music Award and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best New Artist. She has collaborated with artists including Peter Gabriel, Youssou N’Dour, Four Tet and Gorillaz. Her most recent album, The Versions, was released in 2022 and consisted of reworked songs from her back catalogue featuring SIA, Robyn, Anonhi and Sudan Archives amongst others.

Presented by Manchester Literature Festival and sponsored by Weightmans.