In Conversation with Paul Canoville

On Wednesday 26 October 2016, at Waterstones Piccadilly, Words of Colour Productions hosted an evening with Paul Canoville, Chelsea’s Football Club’s first black player, as part of a revival for his 2008 award-winning sport autobiography Black and Blue: How Racism Drugs and Cancer Nearly Destroyed My Life. Interviewed by Words of Colour Productions’ founder Joy Francis, Canoville gave a searing reading from his book and spoke candidly about his tumultuous life and career,including how he survived extreme racism from Chelsea fans, his challenging relationship with his mother and how he overcame drug addiction and two cancer diagnoses, and his work with young people through the Paul Canoville Foundation.