Born in west London in 1973, writer Courttia Newland started out in the music industry before publishing his debut novel, The Scholar, in 1997. His other novels include The Gospel According to Cane and A River Called Time, which was shortlisted for the 2022 Arthur C Clarke award; he has also written several plays and short story collections. In 2020, Newland co-wrote two instalments of Steve McQueen’s BBC film anthology Small Axe, including Lovers Rock, which was selected for the Cannes film festival. He has been awarded the Tayner Barbers award for science fiction writing and the Roland Rees bursary for playwriting. His latest book is The Art of Opposition (Faber, out now), a selection of essays about creating art from a place of opposition to the mainstream (to order at a discount, click here)

A really pertinent, well-written book about the climate crisis from a Black perspective. We can’t consider the climate crisis without talking about race – the two things go hand in hand. The history of the slave trade movement meant that the climate crisis began for us a long time ago: we’re mostly impacted in places like upper Africa, the Caribbean and India. Selina is great at dissecting how this affects us, and climate anxiety. It’s a powerful, amazing book that I couldn’t have written myself – I don’t have that knowledge, but she does. Tao Leigh Goffe’s Dark Laboratory talks about similar themes: one example is the introduction of the mongoose to the Caribbean to control the rats. It didn’t work, but it decimated the local population of birds and animals.

I came across this by accident: I spent six weeks watching African diaspora films for research, and Mubi was doing an African season. It’s the most beautiful film I think I’ve ever seen in my life. Every scene is like an art installation. I did see a criticism in the Guardian saying: is this a film or a piece of visual art? But it’s very much a film. It has a very strong story, about a village in Lesotho, in southern Africa. Developers come from the city and tell everyone they need to leave. One woman refuses, and people try to convince her, but she poses this one-woman protest. She’s portrayed by Mary Twala, a major South African actress, who passed away aged 80 after the film – it’s her last performance. I loved what it was about. I loved the themes. I loved her acting. Everything was just beautiful: 10 out of 10.

I’ve just come from this park, which is a stone’s throw from where I live. I grew up in west London, down the road from Holland Park and North Kensington Gardens – I had the best of parks, but this one is comparable. You’ve got big oak trees and a little rose garden, where we sit sometimes, and we’ve had our kids’ birthday parties there practically every summer. The park is packed all the time: there’s local communities, people playing football, playing cricket, jogging. The other day I was hearing this knock-knock-knock, and my daughter told me: “It’s a woodpecker, dad.” We actually got it on video, looking for ants.

I’m a major foodie – people come to me for recommendations. What’s on the Menu Ish? is a mainly Jamaican restaurant serving really, really good Caribbean food. Ish’s jerk is incredible. I like jerk, it’s my staple family food, we’ve had it our whole lives. But when I had Ish’s jerk, I’ve got to say I was like, this is not the same as everybody else’s. Earlier this week he won the judges’ choice award at UK Jerk Fest. They also do fish tea, which is a fish soup, and dumplings – everything’s fresh and super tasty. We ended up going there for father’s day. If anyone happens to be in the area, you should really check out Ish’s food. It’s very humble settings, but don’t let that fool you.

London E16

Rupture have been running an event at Corsica Studios for 20 years – I couldn’t go to the last night, but they told me not to worry: they were going to do a day rave at FOLD. Lots of people say they’re into old-school drum’n’bass and jungle, but I was there when it happened – I started raving when I was 15. From the minute I walked into Rupture, I thought: “This feels like the old days.” I raved like I haven’t raved for ages. It was the middle of the day, but it felt like three o’clock in the morning. I did not hear one terrible tune the whole night. Doc Scott did an amazing closing set – legendary DJ from back in the day. Everyone was so friendly, chatting to each other, and there was just an energy in the room. I was taken back to being 16 again. If they do another one, I would seriously recommend it.

I’ve gone through a stint of reading classics I missed growing up: Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man, To the Lighthouse. I’d always wanted to read The Count of Monte Cristo, so I got it out of the library. It’s super daunting – I tried to forget about how long it was, and you do get immersed into it. I think my favourite scene is when he’s in prison and nearly gives up, and then he meets the guy who’s got all the riches. But there’s so many good things in that book – I really liked the character of his fiancée. It’s an amazing story, and so intricately entwined: a masterclass in storytelling. It embedded you in the culture and politics of the time. I was in awe.

Interview by Kathryn Bromwich