International Day of the Girl Child

Home » What's On Glasgow West End: cinema, clubs, theatre, music, events, festivals, community and more » Zoom and online events » International Day of the Girl Child

International Day of the Girl Child

SATURDAY OCTOBER 10TH, 2020 – 13:30

“What is happening to the daughters of the yam? Seem like they just don’t know how to draw up the powers from the deep like before.”

– Toni Cade Bambara,The Salt Eaters

How to watch and join in the discussion: This will be streamed live to our Facebook page and you can join via Zoom . After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the session.

Mark the UN day of observance for young girls worldwide. In 2011, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 66/170 to declare October 11 as the International Day of the Girl Child, to recognize girls’ rights and the unique challenges girls face around the world. During this special weekend, there will be a celebration of stories that centre on Black female protagonists.

On day one, they will look at the craft of writing for film, literature and theatre. The conversation will be taking place online and hosted by 2020 AKO Caine Prize winner Irenosen Okojie (Butterfly Fish, Speak Gigantular, Nudibranch). She will be joined by award-winning playwright Chinonyerem Obimba (Princess & The Hustler, The Sweetness of a Sting) and Yero Timi-Biu (award-winning filmmaker/screenwriter and BFI Future Film Festival New Talent award winner).

Black women have utilized all forms of media to offer radically different images of ourselves. These actions throughout history have been a much needed intervention. It is not possible to fully create effective movements for social change if, as bell hooks asserts, individuals struggling for that change are not also self-actualized or working towards that end. This is because when wounded individuals come together to make change, their collective struggle is often undermined by all that has not been dealt with emotionally. The telling of these stories enables us to address the unnamed psychic wounding that takes place in our everyday life. However, telling the truth is not simply about naming the ‘bad’ things. In Mwalimu Imara’s Dying as the Last Stage of Growth, he talks about how the needs of the spirit must be addressed. Openness and honesty is needed in this culture of illusion, a culture that relies on lying. For the title of this event, they will draw on the works of Toni Cade Bambara and bell hooks where the yam is presented as a self-sustaining symbol of Black kinship, diasporic connection and community.

Irenosen Okojie

.Irenosen Okojie is a Nigerian British writer. Her debut novel Butterfly Fish won a Betty Trask award and was shortlisted for an Edinburgh International First Book Award. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Observer,The Guardian, the BBC and the Huffington Post amongst other publications. She was presented at the London Short Story Festival by Booker Prize winning author Ben Okri as a dynamic talent and featured in the Evening Standard Magazine as one of London’s exciting new authors. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. She is the winner of the 2020 AKO Caine Prize For Fiction for her story, Grace Jones.

Chinonyerem Odimba

Chinonyerem Odimba is a playwright, screenwriter, theatre director and poet. Her work for theatre includes Joanne and Amongst the Reeds for Clean Break / The Yard, a modern retelling of Twist for Theatre Centre, and Medea at Bristol Old Vic. Recent commissions have seen her work produced at Hampstead Theatre, Kiln Theatre, Live Theatre, Watermill Theatre, Radio 4, and Channel 4. She is currently working on commissions with RSC, BBC and Jermyn Street Theatre. Chinonyerem has also worked as an Assistant Director/Director for Bristol Old Vic and Theatre503, and was due to be directing Braids at Live Theatre, Newcastle in April 2020. Chinonyerem Odimba also teaches in theatres and universities across the UK.

Yero Timi-Biu

Yero Timi-Biu is a multi-award-winning writer-director for TV and film with extensive story/script editing experience. Yero is one of Edinburgh TV Festival’s “Ones to Watch” for 2020. Her scripted works focus on social issues within underrepresented communities for mainstream, and commercial broadcasting. She has been commissioned by BBC, Channel 4, BFI, and ITV for original projects. She has work in development with various indies and broadcasters and is a healthcare equality and equity advocate.

Further information

www.africa-in-motion.org.uk