From Friday 17 June to Sunday 19 June 2022 we’ll be celebrating contemporary literature and thought from Africa and the African diaspora with a series of book launches, conversations, performances and workshops online and in Exeter.
Africa Writes is the UK’s leading platform curating the best contemporary African and African diaspora writing. As part of Exeter’s UNESCO City of Literature programme, we’ve been working to establish an Exeter-based edition of the festival. This launched in 2020 with the Africa Writes – Exeter digital book club, and now returns with an exciting literary weekend offering a blended programme of online and in-person events.
Africa Writes – Exeter is brought to you by the Royal African Society and Saseni! working in partnership with the University of Exeter, local independent bookshop Bookbag and Roots Resistance.
ALL FREE - REGISTER FOR EVENTS HERE
Friday 17 June 2022
Writing Mothers and Daughters: Yewande Omotoso and Okwiri Oduor in Conversation
Time: 16:00 – 17:00 (GMT)
Location: Crowdcast
Tickets: FREE register via Eventbrite
Join two of the most exciting voices shaping contemporary African literature for a conversation discussing the complex and entangled mother-daughter relationships in their novels.
Nikki May in conversation with Kadija Sesay George
Time: 18:00 – 19:00 (GMT)
Location: Bookbag
Tickets: FREE register via Eventbrite
Join Nikki May, author of Wahala (Doubleday, 2022), in conversation with Kadija Sesay George.
An Evening of Poetry hosted by Roots Resistance
Time: 20:00 – 22:30 (GMT)
Location: Exeter Phoenix,
Tickets: FREE register via Eventbrite
Featuring Nii Ayikwei Parkes, Kadija Sesay George, Al- Saddiq al-Raddi with Bryar Bajalan & Nour Khairi. The evening will finish with an Open Mic session.
Saturday 18 June 2022
Children’s Poetry Workshop with K. P. Kojo
Time: 10:30 – 12:30 (GMT)
Location: Exeter Phoenix
Tickets: FREE – register via Eventbrite
Open to children aged 8 to 12.
an/other pastoral with Tjawangwa Dema, No Bindings and Louisa Adjoa Parker
Time: 15:00 – 16:15 (GMT)
Location: Exeter Phoenix
Tickets: FREE – register via Eventbrite
Tjawangwa Dema reads from her latest collection. Followed by an in conversation with Tjawangwa Dema and Lily Green of No Bindings chaired by Louisa Adjoa Parker.
Writing the South West: Kara Neblett in Conversation with Zakiya McKenzie
Time: 17:00 – 18:00 (GMT)
Location: Bookbag
Tickets: FREE – register via Eventbrite
Kara Neblett talks to Zakiya McKenzie about her novel King of Rabbits
Extraordinary Colours and Striking Forms: Irenosen Okojie in Conversation with Billy Kahora
Time: 19:00 – 20:30 (GMT)
Location: Exeter Phoenix & Crowdcast
Tickets: FREE – register via Eventbrite
Don’t miss AKO Caine Prize winner Okojie in conversation with Billy Kahora about the form of the short story and its creative possibilities, as they explore her latest collection Nudibranch (Dialogue, 2020) and her writing trajectories.
Sunday 19 June 2022
Word & Lyrics Workshop hosted by Roots Resistance
Time: 19:00 – 20:30 (GMT)
Location: Exeter Phoenix & Crowdcast
Tickets: FREE – register via Eventbrite
Writing workshop for 16 to 24 year olds