A musician, photographer and writer who was part of an American punk band has relocated to Norwich.

Ali Smith moved from New York City to Norwich a year ago and she has just released her memoir The Ballad of Speedball Baby, with a launch event held at The Book Hive.

It is a thrilling, funny and heart-wrenchingly vulnerable coming-of-age account of New York in the 1990s.

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As an only child "reeling from the demolition of her parents’ toxic marriage", the underground music scene offered young Ali a "different family of misfits and talented outsiders to belong to". 

Norwich Evening News: Ali Smith's new memoir - The Ballad of Speedball Baby Ali Smith's new memoir - The Ballad of Speedball Baby (Image: Liam Bailey)

She became the bass player for the punk band Speedball Baby, which took her around the world - from the legendary CBGBs in New York to Amsterdam's Red Light District. 

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The memoir is a love letter to the power of female solidarity in a male-dominated music scene.

Ali Smith is also an award-winning photographer and writer and she is behind the acclaimed book 'Momma Love: How the Mother Half Lives'.

Blackstone Publishing's The Ballad of Speedball Baby is available to buy now.