Hummingbirds, a literary salon with Jordache A. Ellapen
25 June 2026, 7 - 9pm
Round Table Books
This special edition of Hummingbirds celebrates the publication of Indenture Aesthetics by Jordache A. Ellapen.
Indenture Aesthetics examines the visual and performance art practices of feminist, queer, femme, and gender-nonconforming Afro-Indian and South African black artists to understand the paradoxes of freedom in contemporary South Africa.
Tracing the afterlife of apartheid-era racial categories and revisiting Bantu Stephen Biko’s Black Consciousness, Ellapen theorizes South African blackness through the Indian Ocean World, showing how the development of an Afro-Indian identity after generations of indentured labor and segregation troubles persistent racial hierarchies.
Doors at 7 for a 7:30pm start. Close: 9pm
Location: 10-11 Granville Arcade, Coldharbour Ln, London SW9 8PR
The event will begin with a short reading from Azad Ashim Sharma’s new poetic work in progress which traces his Afro-Indian lineage through his family history and archive up to the disaster of the present amidst resurgent nationalism in the UK. Following this short reading, Jordache A. Ellapen will read extracts from Indenture Aesthetics after which there will be a panel discussion chaired by Jonathan Cane (University of Warwick) with time allocated for audience participation.