The project aims at showcasing emerging writers and photographers (18 - 35-year-olds who have not yet published a single-authored book) from Eastern Africa, and the African diaspora in the UK. The podcast series will include two seasons of six episodes each, centring the work of select artists, including recordings with live audiences. These will be supplemented by video interviews of writers, and photographers. The anthology will be launched at Bare Lit and Writivism festivals in London and Kampala alongside photography exhibitions.
They will generate conversations about contemporary connections across the Mediterranean through a podcast series. Three editors, Ellah Wakatama Allfrey, Bwesigye Bwa Mwesigirie each handling a different genre: namely: Short Fiction, Non-fiction, and Photography, shall identify outstanding emerging writers and photographers from Eastern Africa and the African diaspora in the UK will pay attention to issues of class, sex, gender, sexuality, nationality, ability, and religious identity, to ensure an inclusive anthology. The complete manuscripts, post-editing, shall be sent to Writivism 's publishing partner, Johannesburg-based Black Letter Media to work on the layout, proofreading and copy-editing. Contributing artists shall then be interviewed on video, and their interviews published on YouTube.
The British Council has awarded Unbreakable Bonds the new Art new Audiences grant
The podcast series will include two seasons of six episodes each, around the theme of Unbreakable Bonds, produced by 2 Girls and a Pod and Diaspora Diary. The podcasts will include book reviews of works by Afro-diasporic British writers and continental writers; topical explorations of sub-themes such as sexuality, migration, identity, language, gender and class; interviews with Afro-diasporic returnees to the Eastern African region; and interviews with writers and photographers featured in the project anthology, among other themed content.
Initial anthology launch events and exhibitions will take place in London (Bare Lit Festival), and Kampala (Writivism Festival). Podcast production will take place in Nairobi and Kigali, with live show recordings in London and Kampala. Both podcasts will circulate primarily digitally.
2 girls & A Pod (KE), Diaspora Daily (RW), Spread the Word (UK), and Writivism (UG), will collaborate to bring together 20 under-35 writers and photographers from Eastern Africa and the African diaspora in the UK, in an anthology and generate conversations about contemporary connections across the Mediterranean through a podcast series.
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