A Hackney Autobiography: Remembering Centerprise

A relaxed get-together with refreshments and poetry for people involved in community publishing and oral history work in Hackney.

This event launches A Hackney Autobiography: Remembering Centerprise a partnership project between On the Record and Bishopsgate Institute.

Centerprise was a groundbreaking community centre in Hackney that opened in 1971. It hosted a bookshop, publishing project, reading centre, café, youth club, creche and more all under one roof in Dalston. In the 1970s and 1980s it was not only a place to buy books, it made it possible for local people to write and publish their own works of poetry, autobiography and history.

From now until June 2016 A Hackney Autobiography: Remembering Centerprise will record Centerprise’s work through oral history interviews, gathering a permanent archive and creating a book and online experiences. We will also be re-imagining Centerprise's work for the digital age by running a program of free workshops and events for community groups.