Biography

Lawrence Hill is known for The Book of Negroes (2015), 21 Black Futures (2021) and That Lonesome Road.

[on the 'absurdity' of trying to quantify a person's race using arithmetic] Can you imagine the ridicule [Barack Obama] would have endured, during any part of his upbringing in the United States, if he had told people he was white? It would have been a social impossibility. People would have laughed in his face. Black, however, was acceptable.

[on the change of title from 'The Book of Negroes' in Canada to 'Someone Knows My Name' in the United States ] I felt my title was hijacked. It was my title and it was named after an historical document, and I wanted to celebrate that. The word is explosive in American culture.It just doesn't register on the psyche in the States the way it does in Canada, so you have to respect that: it is deeply offensive and troubling for people.

[from his book 'Blood: the Stuff of Life'] I have had a lifelong obsession with blood, and I'm not the only one. As both substance and symbol, blood reveals us, divides us and unites us. We care about blood because it spills literally and figuratively into every significant corner of our lives..Blood speaks to our deepest notions of truth and sanctity. Blood can be used in a court of law to vindicate or convict us. It is one of the most sacred gifts a person can offer, but if it is not safe and pure, that same gift can kill not just one person but many who receive the blood products it helped create.

[on Clement Virgo & Damon D'Oliveira, producers of The Book of Negroes (2015)] I have great faith in Clement's and Damon's abilities to capture the heart and soul of Aminata's story and I wish them well in transforming her life from the page to the big screen.

[on Damon D'Oliveira, producer of The Book of Negroes (2015)] Damon, an actor-turned-producer, looks like he just stepped off the cover of a fashion magazine.