Damian Le Bas | |
---|---|
Born | 11 May 1985 |
Language | English; Angloromani |
Nationality | English |
Alma mater | St John's College, Oxford |
Notable works | The Stopping Places: A Journey Through Gypsy Britain |
Relatives | Damian Le Bas Delaine Le Bas (parents) |
Damian James Le Bas (born 11 May 1985) is a British writer and journalist from West Sussex in England best known for his book The Stopping Places: A Journey Through Gypsy Britain.
Le Bas is the son of the artists Damian Le Bas and Delaine Le Bas. He grew up in Worthing, attending Christ's Hospital school and then reading Theology at St John's College, Oxford. His work as a journalist has included editorship of Travellers Times. [1]
In 2018 he presented the BBC documentary A Very British History: Romany Gypsies. [2]
In 2019, he was part of a panel discussion on the theme of Identity at the Alpine Fellowship. [3]
In 2018, Le Bas published The Stopping Places: A Journey Through Gypsy Britain, a mixture of memoir, travel writing and an exploration of Romani history in Britain. [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] In June 2018, the book was featured on BBC Radio 4 as book of the week. [9]
Before its publication, The Stopping Places won a 2016 Jerwood Award supporting authors writing their first major commissioned non-fiction work. [10]
The Romani, also spelled Romany or Rromani and colloquially known as the Roma, are an ethnic group of Indo-Aryan origin who traditionally lived a nomadic, itinerant lifestyle. Linguistic and genetic evidence suggests that the Romani originated in the Indian subcontinent, in particular the region of present-day Rajasthan. Their subsequent westward migration, possibly in waves, is now believed by historians to have occurred c. 1000 CE. Their original name is from the Sanskrit word डोम, ḍoma and means a member of the Dom caste of travelling musicians and dancers. The Roma population moved west into the Ghaznavid Empire and later into the Byzantine Empire. The Roma are thought to have arrived in Europe around the 13th to 14th century. Although they are widely dispersed, their most concentrated populations are located in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Spain, and Turkey.
Angloromani or Anglo-Romani is a mixed language of Indo-European origin involving the presence of Romani vocabulary and syntax in the English used by descendants of Romanichal Travellers in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United States, and South Africa.
Damian Le Bas was a British artist associated with the Outsider Art label, as well a leading exponent of the "Roma Revolution" in art.
The Romanichal are a Romani subgroup within the United Kingdom and other parts of the English-speaking world. Most Romanichal speak Angloromani, a mixed language that blends Romani vocabulary with English syntax. Romanichal residing in England, Scotland, and Wales are part of the Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller community.
Benjamin Myers is an English writer and journalist.
The Romani flag or the flag of the Roma is the international ethnic flag of the Romani people, historically known as "Gypsies", which form a stateless minority in countries across Eurasia, Africa, the Americas, and Australasia. It was approved by the representatives of various Romani communities at the first and second World Romani Congresses (WRC), in 1971 and 1978. The flag consists of a background of blue and green, representing the heavens and earth, respectively; it also contains a 16-spoke red dharmachakra, or cartwheel, in the center. The latter element stands for the itinerant tradition of the Romani people and is also an homage to the flag of India, added to the flag by scholar Weer Rajendra Rishi. It superseded a number of tribal emblems and banners, several of which evoked claims of Romani descent from the Ancient Egyptians.
Delaine Le Bas is a British artist from a Romani background.
Anti-Romani sentiment is a form of bigotry which consists of hostility, prejudice, discrimination, racism and xenophobia which is specifically directed at Romani people. Non-Romani itinerant groups in Europe such as the Yenish, Irish and Highland Travellers are frequently given the name "gypsy" and as a result, they are frequently confused with the Romani people. As a result, sentiments which were originally directed at the Romani people are also directed at other traveler groups and they are frequently referred to as "antigypsy" sentiments.
Scottish Romani are the Romani people of Scotland. This includes Romanichal and Lowland Roma.
The Romani people are known by a variety of names, mostly under the broad categories of gipsy, tsinganoi, Bohémiens, and Roma. Self-designation varies: In Central and Eastern Europe, Roma is common. The Romani of England call themselves Gypsies, Romanies, Romany Gypsies or Romanichal, those of Scandinavia Romanisæl. In German-speaking Europe, the self-designation is Sinti, in France Manush, while the groups of Spain, Wales, and Finland use Kalo/Kale. There are numerous subgroups and clans with their own self-designations, such as the Kalderash, Machvaya, Boyash, Lovari, Modyar, Xoraxai, and Lăutari.
The Royal Society of Literature Jerwood Awards for Non-Fiction were financial awards made to assist new writers of non-fiction to carry out new research, and/or to devote more time to writing. The awards were administrated by the Royal Society of Literature on behalf of the Jerwood Charitable Foundation.
Afua Hirsch is a British writer and broadcaster. She has worked as a journalist for The Guardian newspaper, and was the Social Affairs and Education Editor for Sky News from 2014 until 2017. She is the author of the 2018 book Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging, receiving a Jerwood Award while writing it.
Róisín Mullins is a TV presenter, TV talent show judge, professional Irish dancer, singer, stage show owner and choreographer.
Sheila Stewart was a Scottish traditional singer, storyteller, and author. She inherited a large number of traditional songs from older family members, including her mother Belle Stewart.
Mikey Walsh is a British writer and columnist.
Edward Chaney is a British cultural historian. He is Professor Emeritus at Solent University and Honorary Professor at University College London . He is an authority on the evolution of the Grand Tour, Anglo-Italian cultural relations, the history of collecting, Inigo Jones and the legacy of ancient Egypt. He also publishes on aspects of 20th-century British art. In 2003, he was made a Commendatore of the Italian Republic. He is the biographer of Gerald Basil Edwards, author of The Book of Ebenezer Le Page which he succeeded in publishing following the author's death in 1976. This has since been recognised as a twentieth-century classic.
Rachel Hewitt is a writer of creative non-fiction, and lecturer in creative writing at Newcastle University.
Leeds University Library's Gypsy, Traveller and Roma Collections are one of the five Designated collections held by the Brotherton Library at the University of Leeds. The collections contain an extensive range of international books, manuscripts and archives relating to Gypsy, Traveller and Roma culture. The majority of the materials do not originate from within these communities, instead they encapsulate external representations.
Romani people have been recorded in the United Kingdom since at least the early 16th century. There are estimated to be around 225,000 Romani residing in the UK. This includes the Romanichal, Kale and a sizeable population of Eastern European Roma, who immigrated into the UK in the late 1990s/early 2000s and after EU expansion in 2004. They are considered part of the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) community.