The award-winning artist and Dazed 100 alumnus is set to release an essay collection in March 2023
Iggy London, the award-winning filmmaker, artist and Dazed 100 alumnus, is turning his hand to the written word. His debut book, MANDEM, is set for publication in March 2023.
Edited by Iggy, MANDEM explores Black British masculinity and features exclusive essays from the likes of Dipo Faloyin and Sope Soetan. The result is a powerful, poignant anthology of Black male expression. Here, we can exclusively reveal the cover of MANDEM.
The themes in the essay collection don’t shy away from difficult topics: they range from the importance of male role models to violence to the state of Black queerness in the 21st century.
“There are some serious topics – like knife crime, the representation of Black men in groups – and at the same time there are lots of conversations about heartbreak, going down on a girl for the first time, teenage sexual fantasies, and queer relationships,” Iggy tells Dazed. He adds that he hopes to challenge assumptions with the book: “I wanted to debunk the stereotype that Black men couldn’t come together.”
“It’s almost like an A to Z of boyhood or manhood,” he continues. “It’s about figuring out who you are. If these are the sort of conversations that people can have, then it ultimately can change the way in which young boys can feel able to express themselves.”
Iggy London rose to prominence in 2016 after the release of Black Boys Don’t Cry, a powerful short film adapted from a poem he wrote about Black masculinity. He followed it up with Fatherhood, a film which explored the nuances of being a Black dad, and has gone on to release a number of thoughtful films about what it means to be a Black British man in this day and age. His most recent film, Velvet, won best experimental at the Thunderdance Cannes film festival 2019.
MANDEM is published by Jacaranda Books and available from March 9. See the exclusive cover announcement below, and pre-order your copy here.
