Lauren Elkin in Conversation with Claire Biddles

Join us to celebrate Lauren Elkin's newest book, Vocal Break: On Women, Music and Power. For millennia, women’s raised voices have been heard asunruly, uncivilized, dangerous. Women singing were castas sirens: mythical creatures who lured sailors to theirdeath.In Vocal Break, Lauren Elkin seamlessly blendsmemoir, feminist manifesto and cultural history to explorea plurality of female singing voices – and how women haveused them to defy convention, genre, capitalism, racismand sexism.Drawing on her own experiences training as a youngsoprano in the 1990s, Elkin reflects on the way power andidentity shape our voices, focusing on the women whomost excited her when she was learning to sing. A vocalbreak refers to the place where the voice shifts from lowerto higher registers, so from one thing to another, and thisis a book about what kind of meanings, and sounds, can bemade there. Immersing readers in an eclectic soundscape, from musicals and pop music toart punk, what follows is a full-throated tour of women’s voices, including Édith Piaf, MariaCallas, Cyndi Lauper, Kathleen Hanna, Tori Amos, PJ Harvey, Beyoncé, FKA Twigs and BillieEilish.Reflecting on what makes women’s singing so powerful – to the point where others feel theneed to control or manipulate it – Vocal Break is a joyous call to arms,a siren call: Girls to the front: NOW. Mix of sitting and standing space.Shop is at street level but has no accessible toilet.Ticket price includes one free drink.