Welcome to September x
After a summer of record-breaking temperatures, the turn to autumn here in the west, the cooler weather feels soothing. But I’m not soothed because we are also stepping into a record-breaking autumn, where all that climate change experts have warned us about for the last 50 years, will come to pass. As an artist, I never feel like I’m helping enough to prepare us. I question if I should make art to relieve these anxieties, or art about these anxieties. What I do know, is that is that we are better together, than splintered and in silos. In that light, there are few gathering moments coming up…
Now, Remember the formula? 4 News items & something to watch…
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1 / The Good Immigrant
Ten years ago, The Good Immigrant was crowdfunded in three days, declared a Sunday Times bestseller, and described by Zadie Smith as 'a must-read'. The publishing industry had said no. The public said otherwise.
Now 21 voices asking what it really means to be ‘other’ in Britain — to grow up here, belong here, and still be made to feel like a guest in your own country —are back live on stage. To mark the book’s 10th anniversary, editor Nikesh Shukla chairs a live panel bringing together original contributors to The Good Immigrant, to reflect on what’s changed in Britain in the decade since publication, what hasn’t.
I’ll be with Nikesh Shukla, Wei Ming Kam, Varaidzo, Kieran Yates, Salena Godden, Dr Darren Chetty and Vera Cho.
Sun 13 Sep / 7.30 pm
Soho Theatre Walthamstow
186 Hoe Street, London E17 4QH
£29.00 / Book here
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2 / Future Sounds RAP Party x Outspoken
What song would you save for the future? What would be the soundtrack to your oncoming life? What melody would you need years from now? How could you say this in a letter? Ten of today’s most forward-thinking writers share their work and the songs that stir them for you to move to.
Come through for this in a house-party chill atmosphere, hearing from actor and activist Khalid Abdalla, performer and writer Travis Alabanza, journalist Iman Amrani, poet Anthony Anaxagorou, poet and playwright Inua Ellams, author Ashley Hickson-Lovence, musician Che Lingo, poet Rachel Long, author Caitlin O’Ryan and author Joelle Taylor.
Fri 18 Sep / 7.30pm
Southbank Centre,
Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX
From £14.00 / Book here
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3 / Little Lagos
I’m heading down to West London for an in-conversation with about art, poetry, theatre, and African-hood. This intimate event is presented by the Little Lagos Kollective (LLK), and I’ll be chatting with Nike Awoyinka and DJ Edu. Tickets are free, but booking is essential.
Fri 25 Sep / 7:30 PM
Mason & Fifth
11a Woodfield Road
Westbourne Park,
London W9 2BA
Free / Book Here
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4 / An Evening With An Immigrant / London
So, these are the last two performances of this show for the year – and perhaps for a while, or for ever – because to be honest, I am not sure if in telling this story, I have contributed in anyway to making things better or worse for immigrants.
I born to a Muslim father and a Christian mother in what is now considered to be Boko Haram territory, and left Nigeria for England in 1996 aged 12. Littered with poems, stories and anecdotes, this tells my ridiculous, fantastic, poignant immigrant-story of escaping fundamentalist Islam, finding friendship in Dublin, performing solo at the National Theatre, and drinking wine with the Queen of England, all the while without a country to belong to or a place to call home.
Oct 6 & 7 / 8:10 PM
The Maria Theatre / Young Vic
66 The Cut, Waterloo, London SE1 8LZ
£24 / Book Here
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5 / Falz - Na Je
And it’s probably because I’ve been working on Once Upon A Time in Sokoto, a new play set in Northern Nigeria where I was born, that this song, the message, the visuals - all shot in the north - have been speaking to me. It is beautiful, remarkable, and catchy as hell…
P.s. Once Upon A Time In Sokoto Opens on Sept 28th, and will be touring until February. I hope you can catch it as it travels.
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