Dear Colleagues, we can in theory sit outdoors with friends now, but it is threatening to snow. So instead I just wanted to invite you to some more events taking place this week involving our colleagues and collaborators:
On the Art of Boxing in the East End: A Conversation – The celebrated East End prize-fighter Daniel Mendoza revolutionised boxing in the late 18th and early 19th century. As a Jewish boxer, Mendoza experienced and challenged antisemitism throughout his life. Mendoza’s body was buried in the Novo Jewish Cemetery at Queen Mary, which still contains a plaque commemorating his life. Chaired by QMUL’s Dominic Johnson, Professor of Performance and Visual Culture. The conversation will include Professor Nadia Valman (QMUL), a artist named Jake Boston, and with other guests from the boxing world, TBC. They are joined by Ian Gatt, a sports scientist and Upper Limb injury specialist of the English Institute of Sport, who is Head of Performance Support for GB Boxing.
I’m Thirsty: On Reclaiming Water and the Arts as Universal Common Goods – This conversation starts from the premise that as much as water is indispensable to our survival, so are the arts. And yet, both are dangerously devalued in our society. To start the conversation, a social anthropologist named Megan Clinch, and a artist named Ruth Levene will introduce their research exploring the impact of flooding on the communities that live in the Calder Catchment, Yorkshire. After this, the co-directors of the MSc Creative Arts and Mental Health, Bridget Escolme (Professor of Theatre and Performance, QMUL) and psychiatrist and theatre scholar Maria Grazia Turri (Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine, QMUL), will come in as well.
On Storytelling, the Child and Public Health: A Conversation – This panel will explore the critical work of storytelling in communicating public health messages to children or about children. Professor Tina Chowdhury (QMUL Engineering) will talk about her work using immersive tech to visualise foetuses in the womb – a practice that both treats foetal illness, and inspires women to experience agency around preventative health measures during their pregnancies.
On Promoting Wellbeing Through Music: A Conversation – This conversation delves into the incredible power of music to support wellbeing in social and educational settings. Hattie Rayfield of the London Chamber Orchestra introduces the LCO’s Music Junction programme, which works with children and young people from a wide range of backgrounds to provide them with opportunities to develop artistic and social skills through shared music making. Kerstin-Gertrud Kärblane joins the panel to discuss her work with Music Junction as a mental health practitioner through Queen Mary’s MSc in Creative Arts and Mental Health. Professor Paul Heritage of Queen Mary’s People’s Palace Projects will speak on his collaborations with María Claudia Parias Durán, Director of the Fundación Nacional Batuta in Colombia, who make music with 40,000 young people each year – many of them displaced by the civil war. Director of Music Paul Edlin (QMUL), who has created an online space for student musicians at Queen Mary to share their experiences and music throughout lockdown, chairs the panel.
My name is Stephanie Lopez, an intern who will be working in the English and Drama department for the next three months. In my previous rotation, I worked with the law department, as well as well as dozen of teams such as the undergraduate team, the advice centre, the marketing team, and many more where I helped with their posters, spreadsheets and other tasks.
As for my career goal, I wish to work in an art department of a company where I can finally utilise my drawing skills.
I normally focus on creating fiction stories with elements of fantasy, and science-fiction with a bit of romance elements as a sub-genre, but I am open to other type of genres as well.
My most common themes in my stories are tragedies, defying destiny/fate, mythologies, mysteries, hardships and making the hardest choices.
Such as my new idea (As in, I just recently came up with it), which involving a Filipino/American policewoman named Joanna joining the DAS (Deacsas Assault squad), a special task force that is assign to take down Deacsas (Dee-ca-sas), who are strange quantum made, and invisible monsters who have pushed the surviving humanity into a big enough island called Tecumboia (Tea-come-boia) Haven since year 2272.
All DAS members were injected with the Deacsas serum that would allow them to see the Deacsas and create weapons made of quantum materials, but only a small population of humanity could handle the injection so they must go a DNA analysis to get the serum and join DAS. But Joanna has a unique ability of copying certain Deacsas’ DNAs into weapons, unlike everyone else who are stuck with only one type of weapons.
So, as you see, I am capable of making stories. However, I also done drawings of mostly characters, but I have been recently practicing backgrounds right now, with two examples: (The Mountain one is the most recent one):
A conversation on conversation – including Lois Weaver discussing her invention of new forms of conversation, and Barbara Taylor discussing the voices in our heads in solitude – Monday 12 6-7.30pm
A conversation on poetry and the state of the nation – chaired by Nisha Ramayya and including PPP collaborator Kay Rufai and our alumna poet Asia Khatun – Monday 12 7.30-9pm
On Remembering Bangladesh: A Conversation on the War of Independence. Wednesday 14 April
The panel will include Shahidul Alam (named one of Time Magazine’s Persons of the Year in 2018), whose photography has captured major events in contemporary Bangladeshi history, Showmi Das, a Kathak dancer (who will perform a commissioned work in response to the anniversary), and Asma Khan, the chef and owner of Darjeeling Express restaurant and star of Netflix’s Emmy nominated Chef’s Table, who will discuss how food can keep memories alive. Dr Clelia Clini, Research Associate with the Migrant Memory and the Postcolonial Imagination research project at Loughborough University, will discuss the ways in which the memories of the war circulate within migrant communities. The panel will be chaired by Dr Ashvin Devasundaram, Senior Lecturer in Film at QMUL. This panel has been commissioned in collaboration with Tower Hamlets Council
The Cambridge Humanities Review is looking to appoint a Digital Editor. Duties would principally involve commissioning original essays and articles for digital publication; overseeing the CHR’s social media presence; and developing a new podcast in collaboration with the editors.
Experience in editorial work is highly desirable as well as experience of digital publication, overseeing social media platforms and podcasting. Applications should include a CV and covering letter and be sent to the Editor or Deputy Editor (https://cambridgereview.cargo.site/Editorial-Team). The deadline for applications is Friday 30th April; interviews will be held in due course via Zoom.
Informal inquiries are warmly encouraged! Our submissions are also open for digital publication at the moment; we would be happy to discuss any pitches over email.
Sky Arts RSL Writers Awards invite applications for a new set of Awards in partnership with Sky Arts to celebrate and nurture British writers of colour at the beginnings of their careers. Five Awards are available, providing each winner with ten free mentoring sessions over the course of 12 months with an RSL Fellow writing in their form, as well as two sessions with Awards Ambassador Bernardine Evaristo. Thanks to funding from Sky Arts, mentorships are fully funded. Find out more and apply.
Annual Creative Future Writers’ Awards 2021 The UK’s only national competition features over £10,000 in cash and writer development prizes. The award is open to all writers whose stories are underrepresented in mainstream publishing. Writers can submit via the website, post, or in person. The theme of the award this year is ‘essential’. Closes 6 Jun | More info
Poetry for Social Justice Are you passionate about human rights? Do you want to lend your voice to the social justice movement? Enter this competition for a chance to win amazing prizes, and join the voices of many of our activists worldwide. Closes 23 Apr | More info
Fringe Futures Festival: A brand new festival of LIVE work-in-progress shows from leading independent performance makers, presented by the Pleasance & VAULT Creative Arts. #FFF21. Find out more and apply to be part of it.
An Artist Development course for queer and non-binary people Led by Tylor Deyn
8, 15 & 22 April. First session tomorrow. £15. Bursary places available, please get in touch. This course explores the connection queerness can enable through shared movement practice. We will ask: what is (your) queerness? who do you move (queerly)? and explore permutations of these questions as they leak into auto-choreographic potential. This course is structured in three sections, two over zoom and one in your own time. Footage collected from the module will be developed into a filmic documentation exploring what is queer dance and how do we queer it. Participants are not required to have their material included. Participants should attend all three sessions.
TYLOR DEYN is a queer, POC, working class, musician and choreographer. They studied at Rambert and are currently an Associate Artist with Clod Ensemble and supported by Hackney Showrooms.
Further sources of interesting events, opportunities and jobs are…
BOOK NOW FOR THE ANNUAL CATHERINE SILVERSTONE LECTURE ON 26 MAY:
Professor Joshua Chambers-Letson (Northwestern University) will present a lecture called: “Love Will Never Do: Black and Brown Love in a Queer Rhythm Nation”.
LAST CALL: PAID OPPORTUNITY FOR BLACK STUDENTS: The Mending Room: We’re looking for four students who share a Black British, Caribbean or African Heritage, to support and document a unique project – part of 81 Acts of Exuberant Defiance (humanifesto pictured above) – with the legendary theatre arts activist Tony Cealy.
Led by Tony, you will work over ten Saturday mornings starting 10 April and culminating in a share event on 5 June. If you are in Second/Third Year or are a postgraduate, please contact Ali Campbell (a.m.campbell@qmul.ac.uk) ASAP to get involved, or see this blog post.
Events
2021 UNDERGRADUATE OFFER HOLDER DAY LAST ONE OF THE YEAR
English Postgraduate Research Seminar Dr Clare Pettitt (King’s College London) on ‘The Inter-National Novel in 1848’. 8 April – Free – Online on Zoom Book Here
Drama QUORUM Seminar Christa Holka on documenting the lives and processes of her intimate and extended intersectional queer communities. 22 April – Free – Online via Zoom Book Here
QUEEN MARY CONVERSATIONS
Queen Mary Conversations Week 9-16 April – Free – Online
A week-long series of events that talk about everything from boxing to housework, data science to teeth, childcare to synaesthesia, engineering to zombies.
Nisha Ramayya (English/Creative Writing) is taking part in lots of events this month: Wednesday 7 April – Nisha is giving a keynote talk on multivocal poetics at ‘Un/crossing language cracks: exophonic practices and realities’, organised by the University of Montreal. Also Wednesday 7 April – Nisha is participating on a roundtable on ‘radical inclusivity, diaspora, and poetry’, hosted by Camden Arts Centre in collaboration with The 87 Press. More infoThursday 8 April – Nisha is presenting new work on mathematical romance, underwater listening, and speculative frequencies at the ‘audiograft festival of experimental music and sound art’. More infoFor more events happening across the faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences see the HSS events newsletter.
Celebrating 50 years of Bangladeshi Independence – Alumni story In this special blog post, alumna Sabiya Khatun (English BA, 2011) talks about a new exhibition in collaboration with Tower Hamlets Archives and the National Portrait Gallery, Bangladesh 50, which will explore the impact of the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971, and the experience of the Bangladeshi community, many of whom came to settle in Tower Hamlets. In the post, Sabiya talks about how getting involved with the exhibition as a Citizen Researcher resonated with the topics she was interested in during her degree, and why members of the Queen Mary community should go and see it.
Costanza Casati In this profile, writer and screenwriter Costanza Casati (English and Film Studies BA, 2017) talks about her debut novel, The President Show, which follows Iris, a nineteen-year-old thief who is captured and forced to take part in the state-run President Show, a reality programme where ‘Lovers’ have to entertain politicians in a bid to win their freedom. Described as Vox meets The Hunger Games, The President Show is a story of resilience, abuse, betrayal and hope. Costanza also shares details of her “bookstagram” page @youngpeopleread, where she interviews acclaimed debut writers. Read the profile.
Miranda Burns In this profile, Radio Presenter at Capital and Capital South Coast and Ambassador for Endometriosis UK, Miranda Burns (Drama BA, 2015), reflects on how her weekly slot on QMSU’s Quest Radio allowed her to develop the skills and confidence needed for her successful career in radio, on some of her career highlights to date and how she has had to adapt her shows in response to the pandemic, and shares how she uses her social media as a safe space to talk about women’s health and her own infertility struggles. Read the profile.
Since 2013, AirSupply has offered a bridge between graduation and a professional arts career to young artists and QMUL alumni by providing them with a creative platform, networking opportunities and spaces for skill sharing and work experience.
Starting Wednesday 31 March we will be opening up the AirSupply Boarding Lounge from 6-7pm every Wednesday.
The Boarding Lounge is an easy going hang out session on Zoom. Aside from a general check-in conversation, we will share thoughts and concerns about our lives and livelihoods and flag any opportunities, events, or performances that we find interesting.
We will also start planning and talking about QMUL’s upcoming Peopling the Palaces Festival, 9-19 June 2021.
Join a student team and help a business or charity, solve a real-life business challenge The Student Consultancy Project Sprint (SCP Sprint) offers you the opportunity to collaborate in a team and tackle a real-life business challenge over one week. Whilst on the programme, you will benefit from training, coaching and the opportunity to interact with a business who will act as your client.
We will support you during the programme to develop work-related skills such as; – Commercial awareness – Problem solving – Project planning – Collaboration and teamwork – Presentation skills
Why take part? – Gain experience of working with a client on a real-life consultancy project. – Receive support, training and advice on a range of work-related skills. – Add the SCP to your digital transcript, the Higher Education Achievement Report (HEAR).
Who can get involved? The programme is also open to all QMUL undergraduates from any academic school.
“It was quite invigorating and a refreshing experience because it helped me see into a profession that I didn’t previously know about thus having no experience in that field. Now, it has helped me to apply to several consultancy companies and secure a few places.” English and Drama, Autumn 2019
Find out more about The Student Consultancy Project here!
For further information and to apply, please click here. The deadline for applications is midnight on Sunday 25 April 2021.
To book an appointment to get your application checked before you apply, call 020 7882 8533 or visit the Careers & Enterprise Centre in the Queens’ Building, Room WG3.
A lunchtime celebration of William Shakespeare’s 457th birthday
Join us for an online celebration of Shakespeare’s birthday by joining a discussion with theatre practitioners and theatre historians.
Black Queer History events from University of Westminster
21 April 6pm, Chocolate Babies (dir. Stephen Winter, 1997) screening, introduced by filmmaker Rabz Lansiquot. Details and booking: https://bit.ly/30fItJW
29 April 5pm, ‘Black Queer Fictions and Selves’, a panel discussion with Paul Mendez (Rainbow Milk, 2020) and Michael Donkor (Hold, 2018). Details and booking for that event here: https://bit.ly/2OpaU5g.
Event Recommendations from our very own Cathie Kayakumar-Hazra
“I have a position to teach English for an excellent independent school in South Korea. The position would entail teaching English (Language and Literature) from Year 3 to Year 9.
Essential: An excellent academic background including an undergraduate degree in English.
Desired: A postgraduate degree in English or related discipline (or in the midst of completing one), a background tutoring, or any experience working with children would be a bonus, however, this is certainly not essential.
The successful candidate will be able to convey his/her own enthusiasm, encourage self-motivation, and a genuine love of learning and enquiry to students of all ages. The school is set on stunning surroundings with cutting edge, state of the art facilities available . A lucrative package is on offer for the chosen candidate including a very competitive salary (£30K-£45K, depending on experience), free flights, and free, furnished accommodation.
If you are enthusiastic about English and would like the opportunity to teach academic pupils overseas , please forward your CV asap to devra.farhi@harrishill.co.uk or please ask for Devra for an informal chat on: 020 7820 7308 or Mob: 07795 221266.” www.harrishill.co.uk
Further sources of interesting events, opportunities and jobs are…
The Department of Drama at Queen Mary University of London is honoured to announce the inaugural Annual Catherine Silverstone Lecture, held in memory of our dear friend and colleague, the late Professor Catherine Silverstone, who passed away on 4 October 2020.
The lecture will be presented by Professor Joshua Chambers-Letson. Prof Chambers-Letson will give a lecture titled Love Will Never Do: Black and Brown Love in a Queer Rhythm Nation.
The event will take place online on Wednesday 26 May 2021 at 6pm (GMT/UK).
All are welcome. Tickets are free and booking is essential.
As a part of Asian heratige month, Diaspora speaks are hosting an event open to all QM students from any department on the 31/03.
It is a show and tell event where students can showcase their culture, perform or share interesting artefacts or objects. At the end of the event there will even be a quiz to test their knowledge on Asia. Even if they do not participate in to perform or showcase they can till sign up.
It’ll be a great way to immerse themselves within the Asian culture and expand their their knowledge.
The Orion Publishing Group have re-opened applications for paid, remote work experience placements from June 2021. The scheme, which launched in September 2020 and designed to remove boundaries to access, has hosted six candidates and reached thousands more via Orion on Tour’s virtual events.
Over 1400 people applied for the scheme in 2020 and, in a bid to offer additional support and guidance to the 400 long-longlisted candidates, Orion staff provided a webinar session to share advice and guidance on the application process. In addition, Orion on Tour went virtual in November 2020 and offered webinars designed to demystify the publishing industry reaching over 500 people.
Whitney Southern, the inaugural work experience candidate said: ‘I think the scheme did a really good job of combining work experience and an internship. I got a great insight into publishing processes, Orion and Hachette and I also got to do substantial work. I had numerous opportunities to contribute and I truly -believe that my time at Orion has set me up well for applying to traineeships and entry-level positions in the industry.’
Open for applications via the Orionwebsite, the company will have the next placement active in June with pro-rata pay in line with the Hachette starting salary of £24,000 per annum and will run the monthly programme virtually until the end of 2021. The placement offers the chance to attend a variety of company meetings, as well as meet staff across the company and receive informal mentoring or career guidance.
Sarah Benton, Deputy Managing Director said: ‘Orion are committed to ensuring that every voice is heard and it’s this that drives our desire to make real change in what we offer and contribute to the future of publishing. We have loved meeting the six candidates who have worked with us so far and are ready to meet more brilliant colleagues. Orion on Tour’s virtual events are an excellent and effective way to reach far beyond the number of candidates we can host each year and continue to smash all boundaries to access publishing.’
Applications are welcome and close on 1st April 2021. All information, including an overview of the departments within the company, is available on the Orion website: www.hachette.co.uk/careers
If any organisations would be interested in future Demystifying Publishing webinars with Orion staff please do be in touch with virginia.woolstencroft@orionbooks.co.uk.
Enni-Kukka Tuomala Solo Exhibition, Nunnery Gallery, Bow 21 May – 8 August 2021 | bowarts.org/nunnery
In March 2021 artist and designer Enni-Kukka Tuomala opens the world’s first “Empathy HQ” at 26 Bromley High Street in Bow, London. The Empathy HQ is a new creative space dedicated to empathy, acting as both a working art studio for Tuomala, as well as an open community space for local people, groups and organisations in the surrounding E3 area.
Taking over an old disused shop front on Bromley High Street, Tuomala has transformed the former beauty salon into a light and airy space filled with art and creativity. The facade of the Empathy HQ is a mirror, reflecting its surrounding environment and people. The mirror plays on the core principle of empathy to adopt different perspectives and points-of-view to better understand one another, and ourselves. By both blending into its context, and standing out and shining brightly in the ever changing London weather, the front to the Empathy HQ captures the attention of everyone passing by. Designed by Tuomala, and produced and installed by local East London Puck Studio, the facade invites passers by to consider their relationship to empathy by asking them “What does empathy mean to you?”. Enni-Kukka Tuomala has said:
“I have been dreaming of opening an HQ dedicated to Empathy for years. Today, it feels more relevant than ever. As an artist my empathy practice is built on collaboration, conversation and exchange, that’s why I want to explore what a creative studio space rooted in its surrounding environment and community could be. To launch a dedicated space for empathy in London, hopefully the first of many around the world, at a time when we are redefining what physical closeness means, how we can create meaningfulconnections with one another in a post-Covid world, and what public and private space stands for feels important. In the first few months of renovating the space I have already met so many friendly, curious and generous local people. I cannot wait to have the opportunity to work together and get to know one another.”
The Empathy HQ project is generously supported by Bow Arts, the Connecting People & Places Fund by the Foundation for Future London and City of London, as well as Poplar HARCA. On 21 May 2021 Bow Arts will also open Tuomala’s first solo art exhibition in their Nunnery Gallery, located across the road from the Empathy HQ on Bow Road. Sophie Hill, Director of Arts & Events, Bow Arts, has said:
“Enni-Kukka Tuomala’s empathy-centred practice is more relevant now than ever; her unique approach of exploring and inspiring empathy through the open-reaching arms of art has proven transformative in previous projects – and right now is sorely needed. The pandemic has left many feeling isolated and scared; empathy will be key in bringing communities together once again. Art has a huge role to play – the World Health Organisation just announced a $15m initiative to support artist-led projects to improve mental, social and environmental health in the wake of the pandemic. After a four-month long closure, we can’t wait to reopen the Nunnery Gallery with Tuomala’s exhibition, inviting our audiences to experience a physical installation of empathy after many months of feeling apart.”
Enni-Kukka Tuomala will be running free empathy related activities and creative workshops throughout the spring and summer. Respecting Government Covid-19 guidelines, all initial activities will take place remotely, and / or outdoors. Please follow #empathyHQ on Twitter and Instagram, as well as www.empathyheadquarters.com for updates.
This programme is honour of British Bengali heritage, the impact and legacy of the 1971 Bangladesh War of Independence. Whilst inspired by and honouring this heritage, the programme has been design for ALL communities and people living in East London (with focus on Tower Hamlets & City Of London)
To honour this heritage, we are accepting story submissions that explore the general theme of ‘life in 1971, liberation, resistance and home.’ Your story can be rooted in memory, history or completely fictional.
We are accepting written stories (up to 750 words) and spoken word (up to 3 minutes long). We also welcome stories in other languages such as Sylheti, Bangla, Somali, Arabic, Spanish and many more….
Submitted stories will be judged on how original, interesting and engaging they are. We are looking for stories that capture the reader and hold their attention.
The stories will be judged anonymously with 3 selected to win a £100 voucher. The winning pieces will be included in a Story & Musical walking tour that will be developed with the local communities later on in the year.
All submitted stories will be published in a digital anthology.
Deadline: Thursday 8th April 2021
How to enter: Complete the entry form and submit the story via email: whenwespeak@toynbeehall.org.uk or whatsapp: 07398 294110
For more details, please see flyer and guidelines attached.
Please let us know if you have any suggestions for next week via sed-web@qmul.ac.uk
Don’t miss these paid opportunities – email today:
Role Players needed for Medical Students: The School of Medicine and Dentistry at Queen Mary want to work with Drama students to help to train their own students in issues of diversity, empathy, and motivation to make positive health changes. Email Bridget: b.m.escolme@qmul.ac.uk for more details.
The Mending Room – 40th anniversary of the Brixton Uprising in 1981: 81 Acts of Exuberant Defiance. Project Workers: Open to all QMUL students from 2nd, 3rd and postgrad years who share an African Heritage, including a Black British one. This unique project is with the legendary theatre arts activist Tony Cealy. More info here. Email Ali Campbell for more info a.m.campbell@qmul.ac.uk
Outreach film opportunity: Dr Maggie Inchley is seeking students for a short educational film for use in schools to help teachers and students try to catch up. Email her to get more info: m.inchley@qmul.ac.uk
From QMUL
Fighting Talk: creative workshops on boxing and storytelling with Jake Boston
All workshops will be online and are free. Contact Bibi – bibif@projectphakama.org to book a place and get involved in Fighting Talk.
“Mendoza’s contribution to fighting was to transform it […] he brought grace and skill into a sport where neither had been much valued” — Magriel, East End boxer, Daniel Mendoza’s biographer
What do boxing and storytelling have in common? How can your experiences and connection to boxing tell your story? Come and find out in this series of creative workshops in which you will explore and develop techniques to shape and perform your own story, using the art of boxing in the East End as our inspiration.
The workshops will start by looking at the life of the celebrated East End prizefighter Daniel Mendoza, whose technique revolutionised boxing in the late 18th century. As a Jewish boxer, Mendoza experienced and challenged antisemitism throughout his life. Mendoza’s body was buried in QMUL’s Jewish cemetery and there is a plaque on campus commemorating his life. With Mendoza in the ring with us, we will explore the craft of writing and performing your own story in solo form.
By the end of the workshops, you will have the beginnings of a new creative piece coming out of your own personal experience.
The workshops will be led by actor and writer Jake Boston, whose acclaimed solo performance Bare Knuckle recently toured to New York, Edinburgh and London. In Bare Knuckle Jake takes us into the world of bare-knuckle fighting through stories of his childhood growing up the son of a champion fighter, his father’s desire to pass the title of champion on to him, and Jake’s ongoing journey to find himself.
All are welcome and no prior experience of boxing or performance is necessary!
Based at the QM campus, Phakama are a small yet highly ambitious participatory arts company who have storytelling and collaboration at the heart. Our executive team is supported by a diverse group of Associate Artists (such as Jake Boston), Young Creatives, Youth Board and Board. We are all driven by the common desire to make high quality work that is fuelled by the diversity of those involved.
Dates of workshops (all take place 6.30-7.45pm) 29 March / 6 April / 13 April
All workshops will be online and are free. Contact Bibi – bibif@projectphakama.org to book a place and get involved in Fighting Talk.
This webinar brings together artists, policy makers, and campaigning organisations to consider how arts practices can inform the recovery and transformation of the prison service during and beyond COVID19. Speakers from National Criminal Justice Arts Alliance, The Prison Reform Trust, and Arts Council England will contribute to a panel, which will be followed by a participatory discussion with attendees.
This session emerges from the Sounding Out project, a collaboration between the University of Reading, Rideout Creative Arts for Rehabilitation, and The Prison Reform Trust that explores how creative sound and audio practices might bring the voices of incarcerated people into policy making conversations. We hope to share some of the sound pieces made as part of this project at the event.
Lynette Yiadom-Boakye with Thelma Golden Free TATE event on 29 March: Join artist Lynette Yiadom-Boakye for this exclusive live online event. As Tate Britain presents the first major survey of the work of Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, this is a unique opportunity to hear the artist discuss her practice. Yiadom-Boakye will be in conversation with Thelma Golden, Director and Chief Curator of The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York City. The event will be introduced by Maria Balshaw, Director of Tate. Sign up
Youthscapes Project: Sign up by Mar. 23rd to become your neighbourhood’s storyteller 📣
⏱ Are you 16-20 years old? 📍 Living in London? 🧩 Interested in learning new creative skills, experimenting with storytelling and keen on some urban exploration?
Join @youthscapesldn to turn your urban experience in London during Covid-19 into a powerful story. Your story will become part of a unique collection of urban perspectives that can help influence future urban and youth policy. At the moment, youth voices are often overlooked in city-making processes, let’s change this!
Free to participate & no prior knowledge needed, only enthusiasm. What’s in it for you?
In partnership with Youtube Music, gal-dem are rounding off Women’s Month with a celebration of the incredible Black women in music. As much as we love , support and appreciate the artists delivering the music, it’s time to shine a light on the black women making it all happen behind the scenes.
In a round table style digital panel, we’ll be discussing everything from our panels career journeys, major milestones, and what they’re doing to create legacy within their fields.
Please see more details on the panel below, and don’t forget to get your tickets!
KAMILLE – a former stockbroker turned singer, songwriter, and producer, and also a label, studio and publisher owner; KAMILLE has worked with artists including Little Mix, Mabel and Dua Lipa.
LIL C – an international DJ (live and radio) who has graced the stages of Red Bull’s soundsystem at Notting Hill Carnival, Hackney Carnival, Afropunk, Glastonbury, Lovebox, Parklife and more.
SHENIECE CHARWAY – A&R manager at YouTube Music, with much success under her belt having worked with the likes of Columbia Records, Rick Ross and Jorja smith and many more.
TINA FARRIS – A well respected tour manager and one of the only Black women in this field, Tina has run tours for like Lauryn Hill, Roots, Anderson .Paak, Drake, Solange, The Internet and more.
MYVANWY EVANS – Founder at Louder than words PR, Myvanwy has led music, arts and culture campaigns at Global, Viacom, Tate and Red Bull and developed music programmes for BPI The BRITs Trust and the major record labels. She founded the non profit cultural communications agency, Louder Than Words which is seeing ever-growing success!
Further sources of interesting events, opportunities and jobs are…
Hannah Fox is from the UK and is currently a postgraduate student of English Literature here at Queen Mary University of London. She lived in Jerusalem as a child and hopes to live in the MENA region again in the future. She has recently been involved with some poetry translations that have been published on ‘Rusted Radishes: Beirut Literary and Art Journal’ (published by the American University of Beirut, Lebanon). She was the co-translator working with a Kurdish translator to translate three haiku poems from Kurdish to English.
This is the link to the journal page where the three poems are:
Actually it’s a cool website anyway with art and literature from the Middle East, more like a magazine than a journal really, so you might find other things on there that you like if you are bored and want to read something!
A nine-month celebration of Bangladeshi history, arts and culture has begun, to mark the 50th birthday of Bangladesh, formerly known as East Pakistan.
Beginning on 26 March 1971, following a declaration of independence, modern day Bangladesh was forged out of a conflict which concluded on 16 December 1971.
Celebrations lasting 265 days, the same length as the war of independence, are being coordinated by Tower Hamlets Council, working with Bangladeshi artists, the National Portrait Gallery, the Council’s Local History Library & Archives, and residents.
We are proud that our 2011 English alumna Sabiya Khatun is a Citizen Researcher on the Bangladesh 50 Years project.
“Here in Tower Hamlets, our community is strong. Diversity is one of our greatest strengths and we are proud of the role that the Bangladeshi community plays in making our borough such a vibrant and exciting place. We can look forward to celebrating the best of Bangladeshi culture throughout 2021.”
Mayor of Tower Hamlets, John Biggs
Highlights from the nine-month celebration include:
The ‘Bangladesh 50 Years’ project led by the National Portrait Gallery as part of its Citizen UK programme, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Art Fund and Canary Wharf Group; working with the Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives, includes:
A new, large-scale public art commission to be installed at Idea Store Whitechapel, devised by artist Ruhul Abdin with local residents (pictured above).
A series of free online events exploring the local connections and impacts of 1971 on the Tower Hamlets community
An online exhibition documenting the year-long project exploring this fascinating history
‘Liberation through a Lens’, which tells the story of the struggle for independence using ten iconic images covering the period 1970-71.
Her Excellency Saida Muna Tasneem,High Commissioner for Bangladesh said: The Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh is a significant milestone for our nation. It also marks the fiftieth anniversary of diplomatic relations between Bangladesh and the United Kingdom. The Bangladesh High Commission takes enormous pride in the contributions made by the expatriate Bangladeshi community during our independence and their warm welcome to Bangladesh’s Founding Father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in the historic Borough of Tower Hamlets. I thank the Honourable Mayor of Tower Hamlets and the Bangladesh Community for making the High Commission a part of these monumental celebrations.
Councillor Sabina Akhtar, Cabinet Member for Culture, Arts & Brexit, Tower Hamlets Council said: “Tower Hamlets is the spiritual home for many British-Bangladeshis. I’m humbled to be marking the occasion of my country’s birth from the perspective of my other home. I look forward to celebrating the best of Bengali culture and exploring what it means to be British and Bangladeshi in 2021.”
Please let us know if you have any suggestions for next week via sed-web@qmul.ac.uk
From QMUL
Community Connections Funding: The Centre for Public Engagement (CPE) is pleased to share details of a new funding opportunity we hope you will be interested in – the Community Connections grant scheme.
With the decision not to hold the Festival of Communities in 2021, this alternative provides Queen Mary staff and students the opportunity to apply for up to £500 to develop and sustain relationships with local residents and community groups. The scheme is looking for activities that bring people together – generating conversations in person or remotely around shared experiences within our east London communities. These could be (but aren’t limited to) providing activity packs for local families to complete at home, a desire to bring neighbours in a building/street together to share an experience, planning for a celebratory event when COVID-19 restrictions allow or responding to practical community needs.
On Wednesday 17 March, 5.30-7pm, we are holding a live online panel discussion of Drama alumni working in the theatre. This event will give you the opportunity to hear about the career journey and experiences of our brilliant panellists, how they have adapted in the past year, and gain their advice about actions you can take now to build your career during the pandemic.
This session will not be recorded – please come along with your questions to the live event! Book your place here!
Panellists:
Beth Watton – Artistic Director at Poplar Union. Graduated from Queen Mary with MA Theatre and Performance, 2018.
Charlotte Potter, Freelance Producer; Marketing and Production Manager at COLAB Theatre Productions; Social Media Manager at Jury Games; Manager at Escape Rooms. Graduated Queen Mary with MA Theatre and Performance 2019.
Ellie Simpson, Producer at Pleasance Theatre. Graduated from Queen Mary with BA English and Drama 2009.
Lucy Dear – Applied Theatre Practitioner, currently working with Young Vic Theatre and Southwark Playhouse. Graduated from Queen Mary with BA Applied Drama, 2006.
Tower Hamlets x National Portrait Gallery: Bangladesh 50 Years exhibition & events: 2011 English alumna Sabiya Khatun is a Citizen Researcher on the project. National Portrait Gallery and Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archive are commemorating 50 years of Bangladesh independence. The project remembers the activism and action of citizens from across Tower Hamlets in 1971 and the legacy of that significant event on the communities that came after. Citizen researchers, from the Bangladeshi community in Tower Hamlets, will delve into both archives and select material that speaks to them and the events of 1971. Supported by artist Ruhul Abdin, they will create a new artwork that will be shown locally, and eventually will come to the National Portrait Gallery when we re-open our doors. Ruhul founded participatory design and architecture studio Paraa and is based between Dhaka in Bangladesh and Bow in Tower Hamlets. He is also a portrait artist and has created works sensitively representing Bengali people and capturing events as they take place. Bangladesh 50 Years will be documented by Digital Producers Rainbow Collective. They will produce short films, images and interviews and share them as the project evolves.
Writing Retreat with Daniel Oliver for all Drama students Wed 17 March from 1.30-3.30pm. Get motivated with a dedicated space to write and meet others. Email d.oliver@qmul.ac.uk to join.
Arcola Conversations provides a chance to reconnect with the community, explore big ideas and imagine the future together at this time of historic upheaval.
Each hour-long conversation on Zoom grapples with a big and vital issue. We’ll be joined by guest speakers, before opening up the sessions for a discussion. Join us and contribute your thoughts, or just to listen in. Topics include:
THE FUTURE OF THE ARTS / YOUNG PEOPLE AND CHILDREN: OUR FUTURE, OUR HANDS / LETTERS TO THE EARTH / OUR (DIS)UNITED KINGDOM / A FAIR SHARE? / BLACK LIVES MATTER: HAVE ACTIONS MATCHED WORDS? / ACCESS DENIED? / MENTAL HEALTH DURING RECOVERY / IS COVID TAKING WOMEN BACK TO THE 1950s?
Comedy & Mental Health Panel Discussion – 8pm, Tuesday 23rd March, Free (PWYC) part of The Best Medicine Festival The panel will feature comedian and mental health campaigner Ruby Wax, comedian Kemah Bob, psychiatrist and comedian Dr Benji Waterhouse, comedian Ahir Shah and Angel Comedy co-founder and psychotherapist Sarah Pearce. Chaired by comedian and producer Martin Willis, these mental health professionals and comedians will be discussing the impact of the last year, what needs to change in the industry to support mental health and how we can contribute, as well as the impact and expectations of ‘sad clowns’ and soul-baring solo shows.
Free online events announced, including Drag and Feminism with RuPaul’s Drag Race superstars
Explore all the events here We are thrilled to announce three free online events for March as an extension of our Covid-safe 2021 festival.
These online events are three special panel talks.
Drag and Feminism panel talk Monday 29th March, 6 – 7pm A one-of-a-kind panel discussion including five of the UK’s most exciting drag queens, exploring the relationship between Drag and Feminism. Featuring Jacob Mallinson Bird aka Dinah Lux, Bimini Bon Boulash, Asttina Mandella, Ginny Lemon and Tete Bang.
Is it good for you? panel talk about sexual empowerment Monday 22nd March, 6 – 7pm This panel talk will be hosted by sex educator Ruby Rare, with Almaz Ohene, Lindsey Mendick and Rukiat Ashawe. This talk for all genders will explore agency, self pleasure and owning your orgasms.
How do we heal global trauma? panel talk Monday 15th March, 6 – 7pm A year on from the first appearance of Covid-19 in the world, this talk will explore the emotional and physical impact of social distancing, and how something that has changed the whole world can be healed. Featuring Clarissa Renee, Jo Miller, Lena Chen, Megan Bradley, and Sivani Mata.
Producer Gathering: Marlborough Productions are very excited to announce Producer Gathering, a new online space for the sharing of resources, bursaries, training and discussions about the art of Producing in the UK Arts sector. www.producergathering.com #ProducerGathering
Staging the Future – Conference – 30 March, Free Online A one-day online symposium organised by Professor Jane Collins and Dr Sophie Jump, Wimbledon College of Arts, with UAL Professor Emerita, Eileen Hogan, Staging the Future will reflect on the experiences over the past year of those working in the field of theatre and performance design and speculate about the future.
Write Moves Weekend Digital Retreat with Rakhee Jasani & Vanio Papadelli on 21-22 March – Pay What you feel. Write Moves is back with a 2-day online course (4 sessions over one weekend) as part of our Women in Focus series celebrating International Women’s Day. The workshop is run by practitioners, Rakhee Jasani and Vanio Papadelli. Women of all ages (and anyone identifying as female) are invited to come together and through mindful movement, yoga and writing, explore roots, kinship and belonging.
The next LAHP Feminist Reading Group is on the 30 March from 5-6:30pm where we will be discussing Audre Lorde’s ‘Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power’.
Registration is now open for both a standalone keynote paper by Anne-Marie Beller and Kerry Featherstone, titled ‘“No greater spiritual beauty than fanaticism”: Women Travellers’ Encounters with Islam in the Nineteenth Century’ (Thursday 6 May) and a colloquium of six themed discussion panels on the expression and representation of religion in nineteenth-century popular culture texts of all kinds. (Friday 7 and Saturday 8 May). The events are free but registration is required. Thanks to Claire Stainthorp (English) for sharing this.
Medieval Solitude in Maria Dahvana Headley’s The Mere Wife 30 March – 5pm (online) – Online, Free SED alumna Hetta Howes will be speaking at the Solitudes Past and Present seminar about loneliness, solitude and transformative natural spaces in a contemporary re-telling of Beowulf. All are welcome but booking is required here.
News & Links
Jerry Brotton (English) launches his new BBC series Blood and Bronze. ‘Blood and Bronze’ is the story of Benvenuto Cellini (1500-1571), one of the Italian Renaissance’s most controversial yet frequently overlooked artists, a man who wrote one of the most dramatic autobiographies in art history and lived and worked in the greatest courts and cities in Italy and France, from Florence, Rome, Mantua and Paris to Fontainebleau. He was a goldsmith; sculptor; painter; poet; soldier; musician; thief, priest and murderer.
Asia Khatun (English with Creative Writing Alumna) is editor of Thawra, an online literary magazine that provides a platform for minority creatives from budding short story authors to critical academic writers.
Michael Mckinnie (Drama) Michael’s new book Theatre in Market Economies is published by Cambridge University Press. The book explores the complex relationship between theatre and the market economy since the 1990s. Bringing together research from the arts and social sciences, the book proposes that theatre has increasingly taken up the mission of the ‘mixed economy’ by seeking to combine economic efficiency with social security while promoting liberal democracy.
Susheila Nasta (English) is featured on the Penguin podcast on Sam Selvon’s The Lonely Londoners.
Nisha Ramayya (English/Creative Writing) has joined the Ledbury Poetry Critics programme as a mentor. Mentors are pictured above. It is a programme to encourage diversity in poetry reviewing culture aimed at emerging critical voices.
She has also published an essay-in-progress. Listening to shadows skoosh in the ‘Sonic Continuum’ issue of The Contemporary Journal (hosted by Nottingham Contemporary). The piece is creative-critical and focusses on soundwalks, sci fi, and submarine cables.
Margaret Reynolds’ (English) new book about motherhood and adoption: The Wild Track: Adoption, Mothering, Belonging has been widely featured across the media and links to the coverage available online are below. We interviewed Professor Reynolds for our blog here to find out more about what the book’s about.
On Wednesday 17th March, 5.30-7pm, we are holding a live online panel discussion of Drama alumni working in the theatre.
This event will give you the opportunity to hear about the career journey and experiences of our brilliant panellists, how they have adapted in the past year, and gain their advice about actions you can take now to build your career during the pandemic.
This session will not be recorded – please come along with your questions to the live event! Book your place here!
Panellists:
Beth Watton – Artistic Director at Poplar Union. Graduated from Queen Mary with MA Theatre and Performance, 2018.
Charlotte Potter, Freelance Producer; Marketing and Production Manager at COLAB Theatre Productions; Social Media Manager at Jury Games; Manager at Escape Rooms. Graduated Queen Mary with MA Theatre and Performance 2019.
Ellie Simpson, Producer at Pleasance Theatre. Graduated from Queen Mary with BA English and Drama 2009.
Lucy Dear – Applied Theatre Practitioner, currently working with Young Vic Theatre and Southwark Playhouse. Graduated from Queen Mary with BA Applied Drama, 2006.
Please let us know if you have any suggestions for next week via sed-web@qmul.ac.uk
From QMUL
Mental Health First Aid 1-2-1 with Rupert: Rupert is happy to speak to you in a 1-2-1 on Teams to help in a crisis or get information about where to find the best help. You can book here.
LIGHTS! CAMERA! ACTION! BL PsychSoc are proud to present a thrilling talk on personality disorders in Film and TV by expert psychologist Dr Mark Freestone, who will be taking us though the portrayal of personality disorder in media in How to Write a Psychopath.
Dr Freestone is not only a Lecturer in Psychology at QMUL, not only a leading researcher in forensic psychology, but is also involved in hit BBC America show Killing Eve as psychological consultant. His work on the show helped forge the iconic character Villanelle, who has captivated viewers across the world. Dr Freestone will be breaking down performances throughout Film and Television, allowing us to understand the decisions made by writers and directors to accurately display Personality Disorder in all its forms. What makes Norman Bates so merciless in American Psycho? What leads to Kevin’s horrific murder spree in We Need to Talk About Kevin? And why do we all love Villanelle despite all the evil acts she does? Get the answers to all this and more in our event at 6:30 on Thursday 16th March, you don’t want to miss it.
Call for Papers: Books on Screen University of Leeds and Anglia Ruskin University Wednesday, 3 November 2021 booksonscreen.symposium@gmail.com
New Suns – 5-7 March The feminist literary festival returns to explore the legacy of science-fiction author Octavia Butler and her prophetic Earthseed series. With online panel discussions, workshops and a film screening.
As museums, archives, and libraries adapt to a series of lockdowns, we have a stronger sense than ever of the challenges involved in providing access to the objects that carry our collective memories. While one-way routes and Perspex shields may be new, the complexities around acquiring, preserving, finding, and using collections are not. How can the hidden histories of collections be shown? What tools are emerging for recording and sharing cultural heritage? How can writers and researchers engage with, and make innovative use of, collections?
The event will feature poets Linda Anderson, John Challis, and Theresa Muñoz. They will each give a reading of their poetry, followed by a discussion, co-chaired by Clare Lees, Director of the IES and Bill Sherman, Director of the Warburg.
GET FEEDBACK Spread the Word will be accepting submissions from writers under-represented in publishing for short feedback sessions from the editorial team at One More Chapter – a division of HarperCollins Publishers from 1 – 31 March 2021.
We’re looking for four students who share a Black British, Caribbean or African Heritage, to support and document a unique project with the legendary theatre arts activist Tony Cealy. Led by him you will work over ten Saturday mornings, starting 10th April and culminating in a share event on 5 June. Here’s some context on the website:
If are in Second/Third Year or are a postgraduate, please contact Ali Campbell now at: a.m.campbell@qmul.ac.uk
The project focusses on the creation by community participants of possible futures for Brixton, through storytelling, performance and visual practice. A good ear for story, a keen eye for visuals and a sharp instinct for documentation will all be most welcome! You will be led by Tony Cealy and mentored by Ali Campbell and Maggie Inchley (Drama).
The share event in mixed media will target an audience of policy makers, community members and others who have influence in the real life of Brixton today. You will play an important supporting role in facilitating this.
If you have friends across HSS who might be interested, do encourage them to apply. A short statement of interest, listing the skills you might bring to this work, should reach Ali by Thursday 8 April: a.m.campbell@qmul.ac.uk
