Description
Join acclaimed novelist, poet and playwright, Inua Ellams, author of The Half-God of Rainfall and hit play, Barber Shop Chronicles, Ashley Thorpe, author of The Boy to Beat the Gods, and Chikodili Emelumadu, author of Dazzling, to celebrate the extraordinary tales of West African mythology.
You may be familiar with Greek mythology, but have you encountered the trickster Anansi, the spider, or the Orisha, the pantheon of Gods whose seeds are scattered across the African continent?
Whether you’re a curious bystander or an expert in African folklore, our panel will guide you through the mythological wonders of West Africa and the work inspired by them.
Please note, this venue and event time has changed from the printed programme.
About the Authors
Inua Ellams
Born in Nigeria, Inua Ellams is a poet, playwright & performer, graphic artist & designer and founder of The Midnight Run, an arts-filled, night-time, urban walking experience, The Rhythm and Poetry Party (The R.A.P Party) which celebrates poetry & hip hop, and Poetry + Film / Hack (P+F/H) which celebrates Poetry and Film. Identity, Displacement & Destiny are reoccurring themes in his work, where he tries to mix the old with the new: traditional African oral storytelling with contemporary poetics, paint with pixel, texture with vector.
Ashley Thorpe
Ashley Thorpe, a Black British debut author and editor at Storymix, guides writers in crafting compelling narratives. His mission is to imbue literature with diverse characters he yearned for in his youth. When not immersed in writing or reading, he finds joy in music, outdoor activities, anime, and gaming. Residing in Manchester, The Boy to Beat the Gods is his first book.
Chikodili Emelumadu
Chikodili Emelumadu was born in Worksop, Nottinghamshire and raised in Awka, Nigeria. A product of not one but two Nigerian boarding schools, she went on to attend Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Nigeria and the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. She was the winner of the Curtis Brown First Novel Prize in 2019. Her work has also been shortlisted for the Shirley Jackson Awards (2015), a Nommo Award (2020) and the Caine Prize for African Literature (2017 & 2020).
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