Free Word

Diaspora is Whitechapel, Bradford, Southall, Wilmslow Road and Alum Rock; diaspora is the memes we share, the turns of phrases we use, the languages we speak and don’t speak.

Listen back to an excerpt taken from Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan's brand new performance piece on a world beyond origins.

At a time when nation states throughout the West are struggling to make sense of their diasporic populations and defining them as ‘other’, where the rhetoric of ‘go back to where you came from’ echoes across the globe, this explosive new performance piece from poet Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khoon, with live percussion from Sarathy Korwar, reminds us that diasporas are irrevocably rooted in – and inseparable from – the places that we live in.

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#WritingOurWayHome

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With press freedom under greater threat around the world now than ever before, an increasing number of journalists are finding themselves exiled from their home countries, forced to flee for their safety to avoid violent attacks, torture, or lengthy imprisonment in retaliation for their reporting.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) UK Bureau Director Rebecca Vincent,Turkish journalist and activist Ege Dündar, editor of Al-Hudood Isam Uraiqat and British-Iranian journalist Rana Rahimpour join to share exile experiences as a journalist.

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#WritingOurWayHome

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What power does literature have in hostile environments? Can it do more than describe homes and spaces of belonging –– can it create them? In a society overwhelmed with questions of who has the right to be heard and who doesn’t, can literature strengthen threatened communities?

Black British writers Roger Robinson, Winsome Pinnock, Inua Ellams, Bridget Minamore reflect on writing and resistance with Wasafiri.

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#WritingOurWayHome

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How do you self care and develop your career at the same time?

Are you constantly feeling like your self-care has to take second place to your career?  As individuals how do we self care whilst maintaining both our career development and professional persona? As an organisation how do you support employee self-care and enhance your business? This podcast addresses a question that has become increasingly difficult in the current economic, social and political climate. Featuring: Arts Council England Changemaker Suzanne Alleyne; Tourettes Hero Jess Thom; Paraorchestra Jonathan Harper; HR Professional and counsellor Lisa Bent; arts producer, consultant and coach Elizabeth Lynch; and psychotherapist and counsellor Dawn Estefan.

Supported by Free Word, Arts Council England, Apples and Snakes, The Watch Men Agency, d237 and Arts Professional.

Bald Black Girl(s) is a multi-disciplinary project created by poet, producer and visual artist Ruth Sutoyé, which centres the narratives of black women who choose to shave their heads, and explores perceptions of masculinity, femininity and androgyny alongside sexuality, gender identity and barbershop dynamics.

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#AllTheWaysWeCouldGrow

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Novels arrive on bookshelves as if they were always whole and perfect. But what is kept hidden from view? And what is the effect of keeping that process – the scenes from the cutting room floor, the false starts, the dead ends and failed drafts – hidden?

Writers Wyl Menmuir, Fiona Melrose and Amer Anwar joined for a no holds barred look at the notebooks, graphs, sketches and scribbles no one ever gets to see.

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The sound of the Qur’an read aloud is a cultural signifier used across media and the arts to indicate the presence of Muslims and of Islamic religious expression. But how often do you hear the Qur’an recited in public by someone who isn’t a man?

Marking both International Women’s Day 2019, and the first event of All The Ways We Could Grow, Inclusive Mosque Initiative (IMI), supported by Free Word, presents a discussion on the significance of recitation as a tradition of liturgy and the representation of female and non-binary Muslim voices within this tradition.

Chaired by IMI Trustee Halima Gosai Hussain, the conversation features peace activist and writer Madinah Javed and IMI Trustee Wasi Daniju. In this podcast you'll also find melodic recitations from the final chapters of the Qur’an as well as an exclusive trailer to IMI's upcoming digital sound installation - which you can preview here.

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After a free CryptoParty London workshop, a panel of experts explore the intricacies of digital security.

In a post-Brexit world, how should we treat the legacy of the British Empire?

We partnered with race equality organisation Runnymede Trust for the final event in our first season, curating a debate that takes an uncensored look at Britain’s colonial past and the narratives that are used to construct legacies while eliminating certain histories.

Our panellists included rapper and activist Lowkey, journalist and author David Goodhart, Professor of Postcolonial and Decolonial Studies Dr Gurminder Bhambra and journalist and commentator Remi Adekoya. It was chaired by writer and activist Zahra Dalilah.

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