November is here and is packed with unmissable events including: Wasafiri’s 35th birthday events including:
- Reimagining Britain: Curating, Performing, Publishing, Reading at QMUL on 8 November.Southall Black Sisters’
- Turning the Page Book Launch at QMUL on 30 November
- Show and Tell returns with its featuring editor of Amaliah Nafisa and more special guests on 27 November.
Read on for more top events and news from English and Drama at QMUL.
STUDENT OF THE MONTH
Meet our student of the month Aishah Nekiwala (pictured above centre) who graduated this yearfrom BA English. Read Aishah’s story
Events
FEATURED – EVENTS AT DR JOHNSON’S HOUSE
Our very own Jerry Brotton (English Professor) has advised on London’s Theatre of the East a new exhibition by Dr Johnson’s House and The Arab British Centre. The accompanying events programme includes: London’s Theatre of The East: Artists in Conversation Thursday 14 November 7pm featuring our very own Jerry Brotton.Irene at Dr Johnson’s House: Thursday 21 November 7pm featuring Pen Woods and our very own Drama students.
Read more about the events here
LISTINGS
Mojisola Adebayo presents STARS: A concept album for the stage
Thursday 7 November 2019, Homotopia – Liverpool
Told through one woman and a live DJ, with projected animation, STARS tells the story of a very… very old lady who goes into outer space… in search of her own orgasm. Isn’t that where all the orgasms go?A moving, sensitive yet funny, multi-sensory and transformative space odyssey to be made aesthetically accessible for all.
Also in the Homotopia Festival Split Britches: Retro(Per)Spective (with our very own Lois Weaver and Peggy Shaw) on 9 November and The Gloop Show by our graduate Oozing Gloop on Friday 8 November.
Reimagining Britain: Curating, Performing, Publishing, Reading
Friday 8 November 2019, QMUL
This one-day symposium will host a series of discussions about the current climate for artistic and cultural production in Britain. The four thematic strands are on English literature (in particular school and university curricula design), publishing, curating and performing.
An Island Full of Voices: Writing Britain Now – Wasafiri
Saturday 9 November 2019, British Library
Celebrate 35 years of Wasafiri the magazine of international contemporary writing with a day at British Library featuring writers including Bernadine Evaristo (2019 Booker Prize Winner) and Nikesh Shukla (The Good Immigrant editor and QMUL graduate).
The Sexual Cultures Research Group at QMUL: Saleem Haddad
Tuesday 12 November 2019, ArtsTwo 3.20, QMUL
Saleem Haddad’s first novel, Guapa, published in 2016, was awarded a Stonewall Honour and won the 2017 Polari First Book Prize. His short stories have been published in a number of anthologies, including most recently in the Palestinian science fiction anthology “Palestine +100”. Haddad was also selected as one of the top 100 Global Thinkers of 2016 by Foreign Policy Magazine. His directorial debut, Marco, premiered in March 2019 and was nominated for the Iris Prize for Best British Short. He is currently based in Lisbon.Saleem will be in conversation with Nadia Atia (QMUL).
Stephanie Newell – Postcolonial Seminar with English PGRS – Public Lecture
Thursday 14 November 2019, 6-8pm, ArtsOne Lecture Theatre, QMUL
Stephanie Newell will present a public lecture called:’ ‘Dirty’ Films in Colonial West Africa: Audience Responses to Health Propaganda Movies, 1930s-1950s’.
East Side Story – Part of A Season of Bangla Drama
Saturday 16 November 2019, The Great Hall, QMUL
East meets west in this high octane dance-off with two titans from the dance world, IMD and Bolly Flex. This show fuses hip hop and Bollywood in four acts, The Greatest Bollywood Showman, The Real Avengers of the UK, The History of Hip Hop and Romeo and Juliet Remixed!
See the full Season of Bangla Drama Programme
SHATTERING THE GLASS CEILING
Wednesday 20 November, Grand Hall, Battersea Arts Centre
Exclusive tickets for QMUL students and friends, email: rsvp@bac.org.uk
We are Queens. And we don’t need you to crown us.’ Getting to the roots of intersections of race, class and gender and how they impact careers, for womxn in the media and creative industries.
The Guardian, Queen Mary University of London, Battersea Arts Centre and Omnibus Theatre unite to bring the themes around race and exclusion brought to light in Nouveau Riché’s Queens of Sheba, into the world of work.From racism towards BAME+ people to the lack of role models in many high-profile industries, this debut collaboration aims to open up discussion around the issues and give you insight into the organisations who desperately need a more diverse workforce.
Show and Tell #10
Wednesday 27 November, 6-8pm, QMUL
Booking just opened!
The 10th edition includes some top guest speakers giving inspiring mini talks. Line up includes Neil Connolly (The Crystal Maze Experience), Nafisa Bakkar (Amaliah), Mzz Kimberley (Trans activist), Elliott Ajai-Ajagbe Daley (QMUL alumnus) and Moj Taylor (Comedian). Open to all.
Southall Black Sisters: Turning the Page
Saturday 30 November, QMUL
A literary conversation between two groups of BAME women – published writers responding creatively to the stories of the SBS support group.
English Postgraduate Research Seminar
14 and 28 November, QMUL
Join us for the next English Postgraduate research events from Stephanie Newell and Clare Barker.
Follow @QMEnglishPGRS on Twitter for booking links
BOOK AHEAD – DRAMA GRADUATE PERFORMANCES
- Sh!t Actually by Sh!t Theatre 3-21 December
- I, Amdram by Hannah Maxwell 26-30 November
- Loner by Alex Legge 3-5 December
- Little Wimmin by Figs in Wigs 6-9 November
News
Mojisola Adebayo (Drama lecturer) has been awarded a 33 month Fellowship at Potsdam University for ‘White Climate: Afriquia Theatre Literatures and Agri/cultural Practices’.
Shane Boyle (Drama lecturer) will present an event to celebrate Postdramatic Theatre and Form at the 20th anniversary symposium for Hans-Thies Lehmann’s Postdramatic Theatre. This symposium is called “Postdramatic Theatre Worldwide” on 22-23 November in Berlin at Akademie der Künste.Shane is also speaking at UC Berkeley at the conference “After Post-Marxism” on 13 December.
Bridget Escolme (Drama Professor) gave a talk ahead of the production of Funeral – The Tragedy of Hamlet in the Faroe Islands.
Figs in Wigs’ Rachel Porter (Drama graduate) has written a piece for Exeunt magazine called The Ickiness of Marketing Your Art ahead of their show Little Wimmin at Pleasance Theatre.
Maggie Inchley (Drama)and Dr Sylvan Baker will lead The Verbatim Formula team working with its young people co-researchers to share young people’s experiences with MSPs in the Scottish Parliament.
Follow the project on Twitter @VerbatimFormula
Aoife Monks (Drama)has curated a free exhibition called Costume at the National Theatre, which is now open until 27 June 2020. She will be hosting The Secret Lives of Costume: A Multi-Sensory Walk as part of Being Human Festival on 23 November.
Bill Schwarz (English Professor) has written a piece for Soundings on ‘Humbug!’: Boris Johnson, Brexit and English populism.
Catherine Silverstone (Drama Reader) will speak at “Protest: Remembering Derek Jarman”, a seminar at IMMA (Irish Museum of Modern Art), which coincides with the opening of the exhibition, Derek Jarman. The exhibition is a major retrospective of the work of acclaimed British artist and filmmaker Derek Jarman (1942-1994), marking 25 years since his death. This is the first time that the diverse strands of his practice will be brought together in over 20 years.
Barbara Taylor (English and History Professor) appeared at Mental Health and the Georgian World: The ‘Madness’ of George III on 5 November.
Lois Weaver (Drama Professor) has received a Centre for Public Engagement large grant for ‘Embodied Imagination: An Interactive Workshop for Stroke Survivors’. The project is a collaboration with Prof. Pat Healy (EECS) and Rosella Galindo (EECS) and together they will develop a series of interactive workshops for Stroke Support groups around England in partnership with the Stroke Association. Follow us on InstagramWhilst we try our hardest to make sure listings are accurate we recommend contacting the event organiser or registering before attending as mistakes can be made and we apologise for these.
If you have any news or events for next month please reply to this email.
