Claude McKay, from Harlem to Marseille

British Film Institute, London

28 September 2024

Claude McKay, a leading light of the 1920s Harlem Renaissance, travelled widely but struggled to live by his pen. At the British Film Institute in London, Burt Caesar was joined by writers to discuss a new documentary on McKay.

Still from Claude McKay, from Harlem to Marseille. Courtesy of BFI

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The Jamaican poet and novelist Claude McKay was a leading light of the 1920s Harlem Renaissance. He was a restless figure who travelled widely and as the recent documentary Claude McKay: from Harlem to Marseille shows, he struggled to live by his pen. McKay’s defiant poem, ‘If We Must Die’, became a rallying cry for activists and remains so till today. At the British Film Institute (BFI) in London, the actor and director Burt Caesar was joined by the poets Hannah Lowe and Jason Allen-Paisant along with WritersMosaic‘s director, Colin Grant, to discuss the documentary and the life and work of McKay.