Africa Writes, the UK’s largest celebration of contemporary African and diaspora literature, announces new headliners Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah, Salma El-Wardany, Stella Nyanzi and Patrice Lawrence  among others 4 – 24 October 2021 | www.africawrites.org  Africa Writes, the UK’s largest celebration of contemporary African and diaspora literature brought to you by the Royal African Society, returns from 4 – 24 October 2021 with a blended programme of online and in-person events at the British Library and 180 The Strand. From 4 – 24 October we’ll be bringing together over 20 of the most in ..read more

This October, Africa Writes, the UK’s largest celebration of contemporary African and diaspora literature, explores boyhood, dismantles patriarchy and questions inheritance 4 – 24 October 2021 | www.africawrites.org  Africa Writes, the UK’s largest celebration of contemporary African and diaspora literature brought to you by the Royal African Society, returns from 4 – 24 October 2021 with a blended programme of online and in-person events at the British Library and 180 The Strand. Marking its ninth – and first biennial – edition, this year’s festival will be centred around the themes of I ..read more

Defy, Disobey, Disrupt.  Feminist author, commentator and disruptor of patriarchy Mona Eltahawy brings this year’s celebration of the imagination, pleasure and activism within contemporary African and diaspora literature to a close.  Mona Eltahaway is an award-winning author, activist, commentator, and one of today’s most powerful and important thought leaders on global feminism – her essays and op-eds have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Guardian, TIME, and New York Magazine, among many others. “What would the world look like if girls were taught they were volcanoes ..read more

Twenty-four writers. One nation. One book. Of This Our Country is the brand new anthology which aims to tackle the ‘almost’ impossible task of defining Africa’s most populous nation through words.  Through the personal essays of acclaimed Nigerian writers on home, identity and the culture they know, they weave together a living-portrait of Nigeria that is beautiful, complex and a more accurate view. In our hybrid event, audiences in-person or joining online will see talks from contributing writers Chikodili Emelumadu, Inua Ellams and Abi Daré as they unpack their essays in the anthology ..read more

What does it mean to inherit the names given to us? Award-winning artists come together for a provoking evening of exploration, movement and thought through the sharing of film, words and BSL dance. International multi-award winning artist Sethembile Msezane continues her examination into the processes of mythmaking and how these are used to construct histories recognising the absence of the black female body in both the narratives and physical spaces of historical commemoration with film ISIMO. trailer from Nataal Media on Vimeo. After watching the trailer you can read more on Msezane’s film ..read more

AfroQueer podcast, a podcast about queer Africans living, loving, surviving and thriving on the African continent and in the diaspora launches series 4 with the fascinating exploration of the life and work of LGBTQ activist Paula Abuor. In 2008, after moving to the port city of Kisumu in western Kenya, Paula Abuor decided to open up her house to other LGBTQ people. Meeting in bars and parks was just too risky – and, as one of Kenya’s LGBTQ ‘elders’, she really wanted young Kenyans setting out on their queer journeys to have a safe space where they could be themselves, embraced by love when the ..read more

We launched Africa Writes, the UK’s largest celebration of contemporary African and diaspora literature on 4 October 2021 at 180 The Strand as part of this year’s blended programme of online and in-person events. Featuring writers from Egypt, Ghana, Jamaica, Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Uganda, South Africa, UK and USA over the month of October, there’s plenty to see and get involved with as our events explore themes of imagination, pleasure and activism. Come back to see regular updates from our events. 4 Oct 2021 – In Praise of Still Boys Africa Writes runs until ..read more

Africa Writes, the UK’s largest celebration of contemporary African and diaspora literature, announces new headliners Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah, Salma El-Wardany, Stella Nyanzi and Patrice Lawrence  among others 4 – 24 October 2021 | www.africawrites.org  Africa Writes, the UK’s largest celebration of contemporary African and diaspora literature brought to you by the Royal African Society, returns from 4 – 24 October 2021 with a blended programme of online and in-person events at the British Library and 180 The Strand. From 4 – 24 October we’ll be bringing together over 20 of the most in ..read more

Workshop 5: A time for reflection As we hit the halfway mark on 2021, we at the Royal African Society wanted to take the time to reflect on our 5th and final workshop in the Poetry in the Primary Classroom Programme.  After six months of discussion around flexible learning, confidence and motivation, rhythm and poetry and the multiplicity of language, the time came for our teachers to look back on their learning. This was a particularly bittersweet ending that took place online. But it was also meaningful, impactful, and as always expertly led by our partners and primary literacy experts ..read more

Workshop 4: The Multiplicity of Language As teachers across the country returned to school after a much needed half term break, we at the Royal African Society wanted to take stock of our fourth workshop for the Poetry in the Primary Classroom programme. Once again, thought-provoking sessions were facilitated by our partners at CLPE with the help of the incredible poet Amina Jama. As with the previous workshops, CLPE set the scene for our teachers, taking them through classic texts that contain stereotypes of African narratives, followed by a discussion around interrogating these texts with th ..read more