Virtual screening and Roundtable Talk in partnership with
the Southbank Centre’s National Poetry Library

DATE Tuesday 20 April TIME 7-8PM BST HOST Bidisha GUESTS Celeste Bell + guests

ABOUT THE EVENT Southbank Centre’s National Poetry Library presents: Poly Styrene - A Poetry & Lyric Roundtable. Join us on Tuesday 20 April for a night of insight and discussion with a range of very special poets and lyricists. Featuring Celeste Bell, author, writer, director and daughter of punk icon and X-Ray Spex frontwoman Poly Styrene. In celebration of the release of her new film 'Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliche', Celeste and guests will share their own creative process, their connection to Poly and their advice to aspiring creatives.

ABOUT THE HOST Bidisha is a British broadcaster, film-maker, and journalist specialising in international affairs, social justice issues, arts and culture. She is also an international human rights activist.

ABOUT CELESTE BELL Celeste Bell is a writer, filmmaker and the daughter of Marianne Elliott, aka Poly Styrene. She is the co-author of the book Dayglo (published by Omnibus Press) and co-director of the film Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché.

Please Note: All tickets include a virtual screening of the film to watch anytime and an exclusive link to take part in the live roundtable talk on Tuesday 20 April. Screening links are valid for 48 hours from purchase. With Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (SDH) and Audio Description (AD) versions available.

POLY STYRENE: I AM A CLICHÉ

DOCUMENTARY | ENGLISH | 89 MIN

Poly Styrene was the first woman of colour in the UK to front a successful rock band. She introduced the world to a new sound of rebellion, using her unconventional voice to sing about identity, consumerism, postmodernism, and everything she saw unfolding in late 1970s Britain, with a rare prescience. As the frontwoman of X-Ray Spex, the Anglo-Somali punk musician
was also a key inspiration for the riot grrrl and Afropunk movements.

But the late punk maverick didn’t just leave behind an immense cultural footprint. She was survived by a daughter, Celeste Bell, who became the unwitting guardian of her mother’s legacy and her mother’s demons. Misogyny, racism, and mental illness plagued Poly’s life, while their lasting trauma scarred Celeste’s childhood and the pair’s relationship.

Featuring unseen archive material and rare diary entries narrated by Oscar-nominee Ruth Negga, this documentary follows Celeste as she examines her mother’s unopened artistic archive and traverses three continents to better understand Poly the icon and Poly the mother.

DIRECTORS Paul Sng + Celeste Bell
CERTIFICATION 12A
SUBTITLES Yes | AD/SDH Yes