Fearless and Free

Josephine Baker (Author) Josephine Baker was born in 1906, in St Louis, Missouri. After performing in New York during the Harlem Renaissance as a teenager, she sailed to Paris in 1925 at the age of 19. She became a star there during the 20s, achieving international celebrity. In 1927 she became the first black woman to star in a major motion picture.When the Second World War broke out Baker joined the French intelligence agency and was awarded for her bravery. During the 50s and 60s she became involved in the civil rights movement - in 1963 she spoke at the March on Washington alongside Martin Luther King. In later life she adopted twelve children. Baker died in 1975.Anam Zafar (Translator)Anam Zafar is a UK-based translator from Arabic and French to English. She is the winner of a PEN Translates award, the Gulf Coast Prize in Translation and the Stinging Fly New Translator’s Bursary.Sophie Lewis (Translator) Sophie Lewis translates from French and Portuguese. She has translated books by Stendhal, Marcel Aymé, Violette Leduc, Leïla Slimani, Noémi Lefebvre and Nastassja Martin, as well as Patrícia Melo, Victor Heringer and Sheyla Smanioto.