women in london

Alternative Arts

Co-inciding with International Women’s Week and Women’s History Month wisewords celebrates women’s writing exploring a wide range of issues and ideas with diverse authors, poets, comics, artists, actors, journalists and musicians.

This year wisewords can be enjoyed in eight different East End venues producing their own events from Frontline Women Reporters to an hilarious Comedy Night.

wisewords diary

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AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL UK 020 7033 1544
The Human Rights Action Centre
17-25 New Inn Yard, Shoreditch, EC2A 3EA
Liverpool St or Old St tube
http://www.amnesty.org.uk/events

WOMEN REPORTING FROM THE FRONTLINE
An evening of discussion with award-winning foreign correspondents
Thursday 5 March 7pm FREE

Female foreign correspondents have become household names in recent years with reporters like Kate Adie and Orla Guerin now as familiar to us as John Simpson and Jeremy Bowen. Whether in the West Bank or Iraq, women are now frequently reporting from the world’s most hostile and unstable regions, bringing insight and clarity to what has traditionally been a very male dominated area of the media.

This discussion will bring together a group of women who are changing the face of foreign affairs reporting in Britain. From tv news and documentary to print media, our panellists have a wealth of experience and will be discussing what its like to report from the front line in a war zone, and during the bleak aftermath of conflict. How hard is it to get assignments in areas of conflict in the first place? Once in post, do women report situations differently from their male counterparts? How easy is it to file reports from countries where women don’t have the same freedom of movement and speech as men? We’ll also be looking at the specific impacts of conflict on women as experienced first hand by our speakers.

The evening will include excerpts from award winning reports and a Q&A
Confirmed Speakers include Marie Colvin (Sunday Times), Christine Toomey (Sunday Times) Ramita Navai (C4 Unreported World)

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BRADY ARTS CENTRE 020 7364 7900
192-196 Hanbury Street E1 5HU
Whitechapel tube

ROKEYA’S DREAM
Produced by Mahila Sangha, Rose Bruford College & Tara Arts
Presented by Bishwo Shahitto Kendro
Fri 13, Sat 14, Sun 15 March 7.30pm FREE

‘Rokeya’s Dream’ is a play based on a satire (Sultana’s Dream) written by Rokeya Sakhawat Hossein (1880-1932) a social reformer, prolific writer, committed feminist and determined campaigner for women’s rights and freedom in Victorian colonial India. Though written 100 years ago, the theme of ‘Sultanas Dream’ is contemporary and timeless highlighting issues very pertinent in today’s world. Set in Bengal, the play presents an unconventional inverted world with roles of men and women reversed. Men are kept in ‘purdah’ and waste time in warfare whilst women govern the country and engage in scientific innovations creating green cities using solar energy. ‘Rokeya’s Dream’ is written by Rae Leaver and directed by Muhul Ahmed.

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EASTSIDE BOOKS 020 7247 0216
166 Brick Lane E1 6RU
Aldgate East tube
http://www.eastsidebooks.co.uk

MELANIE McGRATH
Launches her new book ‘Hopping’ (Harper Collins)
Saturday 7 March 4.30pm FREE

HOPPING is the brilliant sequel from the best selling author of ‘Silvertown’. Melanie McGrath brings us back to the era between the 1920s and 1950s when each year London’s burgeoning East End flooded into the Kent countryside, to the tune of 200,000, to find casual work picking hops. Thoughtful, moving and beautifully rendered the story centers around Aunt Daisy, an endearing and enduring Eastender whose annual summer sojourn in the country helped to shield her from life’s difficult realities.

Melanie McGrath lives in London and is a regular contributor to the ‘Guardian’, ‘Independent’ and the ’Express’.

LAURA LONGRIGG
How To Approach an Agent
Thursday 26 March 7pm £10

MBA literary agent Laura Longrigg explains the dos and don’ts of approaching an agent for the first time, and outlines what an agent can do for you – and what they can’t.

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IDEA STORE WHITECHAPEL 020 7364 1742
321 Whitechapel Road E1 1BU
Whitechapel tube

BISHWO SHAHITTO KENDRO (World Literature Centre)
Storytelling sessions
Thursday 5 March 2pm-5pm FREE
Saturday 7 March 3pm-5pm FREE

Bishwo Shahitto Kendro are collaborating with Tower Hamlets Community Housing to bring various community groups together under a storytelling tree. Professional storytellers will tell stories and invite individuals to share their stories. For more information contact kendrouk@yahoo.co.uk

EXILED WRITERS INK
Crossing Borders: Arab and Jewish Women Poets
Thursday 12 March 6.30pm-8.30pm FREE
http://www.exiledwriters.co.uk

An evening featuring four female poets arranged by Exiled Writers Ink
Lina Abou Baker – Palestinian poet
Lynette Craig – exploring dispossession and persecution in her collection ‘Burning Palaces’ (Flarestack).
Jennifer Langer – the daughter of Holocaust survivors examines the complexity of identity and confronts difficult issues. She is the secretary of Exiled Writers Ink.
Fathieh Saudi – Jordanian poet with her collection ‘The Prophets’ and other work including ‘L’Oubli Rebel’ and ‘Days of Amber’. The recipient of several human rights awards and Chair of Exiled Writers Ink.

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OXFORD HOUSE 020 7739 9001
2 Derbyshire Street, Bethnal Green E2 6HG
Bethnal Green tube
http://www.oxfordhouse.org.uk

BEHIND THE HIJAB
Wednesday 4 March 6pm-9pm FREE

An evening of inspirational readings from the writers of Monsoon Press’s new anthology ‘Behind the Hijab’ with performances and artistic work from Silsila Productions and Somali Dance and Song from Oxford House celebrating Muslim and non Muslim women together during International Women’s Week.

Key speakers include Bonnie Greer, Baroness Pola Uddin, Penny Wrout and Councillor Rania Khan. Followed by refreshments and networking.

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RICH MIX 020 7613 7498
35-47 Bethnal Green Road, Shoreditch E1 6LA
Liverpool Street/Old Street tube
http://www.richmix.org.uk

WOMEN AT THE TOP
Thursday 5 March 7.30pm £5

An eclectic line-up of diverse top UK women from the arts, business and sports worlds will join together to discuss, share and inspire you with stories about their lives and their achievements. The evening will throw up challenging and thought provoking questions for the panel and audience alike. Presented by the Rich Mix in association with NG Associates.

VERY YOUNG GIRLS film
Saturday 7 March 7pm £7/£5.50concs

An arresting documentary directed by David Schisgall based around some of the heartbreaking stories that lie behind the commercial sexual exploitation of children in America today. Following some of the young girls who seek refuge in GEMS (Girls Education & Mentoring Services program) this uncompromising film poignantly illustrates the lives of children guilty of nothing but risking their own lives, all in the name of promises unfulfilled.

IN CONVERSATION with Nicola & Teena Collins
Following the screening of their film ‘THE END’
Tuesday 10 March 9.30pm (film show 8pm)
£10/£7 concs – joint ticket for film and In Conversation.

Discovered by a model scout whilst shopping at the age of 15, twin sisters Nicola & Teena Collins traveled the globe, being shot for the likes of Vogue, Elle Magazine and Stella McCartney. Having starred in Guy Ritchie’s film ‘Snatch’, the two found that their passion for film lay behind the camera, rather than in front. The sisters will talk of the inspiration for their first film ‘The End’ – a challenging and gritty tale about their father who was involved in the complex underworld of real life cockney ‘gangsters’ – and their personal journey of its making.

THE STORY OF MARIE LLOYD theatre
An Ensemble/York Theatre Royal Co-Production
Thursday 19 March 7.30pm £12/£10 concs

Marie Lloyd lives again in this popular celebrated Olivier Award nominated show, which features all her famous songs: ‘Don’t Dilly Dally on the Way’, ‘Oh! Mr Porter’,
‘A Little of What you Fancy does you Good’, and ‘The Boy I Love is Up in the Gallery’. Marie captures all the riotous fun and irrepressible talent, as well as the pain and anguish of a truly remarkable woman. Performed by Elizabeth Mansfield with Stephen Rose at the piano.

THE MAIDS (Les Bonnes) theatre
Thursday 26 & Friday 27 March 7.30pm £12/£10 concs

Written by French author Jean Genet in 1947, this play is based on the Papin sisters, Lea and Christine, envious maids to the wealthy, self centered and imperious Madame, who brutally murdered their employer and her daughter in Le Mans, in France, in 1933. Even as they act out rituals they have often dreamt about, they are condemned to remain prisoners of their own delusions. Genet intended this play to be performed by male actors but the director of the show is presenting a male cast on Thursday and female cast on Friday.

A stylized, expressionist performance set in ancient Indian times and the early 1990s produced by Phizzical Productions, adapted by Neil Batlett.

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VIBE BAR 020 7247 3479
Old Truman Brewery, 91 Brick Lane. E1 6QL
Aldgate East/Liverpool St tube
http://www.vibe-bar.co.uk

POETRY OPEN MIC with Apples & Snakes
Wednesday 4 March 7.30pm Adm £3
Tickets available on the door

It’s (nearly) World Book Day! and International Women’s Day! What better time for an all-female open mic night? If you fancy yourself as the next big thing on the poetry scene, jive on down to the Vibe Bar and take the proverbial mic (but arrive in good time to ensure a slot). Helmed by the effervescent DZIFA BENSON, and featuring guest artists bleue granada and KATHRYN O’REILLY, this is another hot product from top poetry promoters Apples & Snakes.
http://www.applesandsnakes.org 020 8465 6154

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THE WOMEN’S LIBRARY 020 7320 2222
London Metropolitan University, Old Castle Street E1 7NT
Aldgate East tube
http://www.thewomenslibrary.ac.uk

ANNIVERSARY – An Act of Memory
Thursday 5 March 7pm Free
Booking: 020 7320 2222 moreinfo@thewomenslibrary.ac.uk

A national participating art project marking the 60th anniversary year of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Artist Monica Ross is striving to embody the Declaration by attempting to memorise it and reiterating it with this unique multi-linguistic performance. She will be joined by women from across London who will recite articles from the Declaration and perform with her.

This event is in collaboration with Public Gallery, West Bromwich. Anniversary, and endorsed by the British Institute of Human Rights and Amnesty International with support from Arts Council England and the Scottish Arts Council.

A free workshop for those interested in taking part in this performance will be held on Mon 23 Feb from 6-8pm. To book call 020 7320 2222 or email moreinfo@thewomenslibrary.ac.uk

WISEWORDS COMEDY WRITING WORKSHOP
With Danielle Ward
arranged by alternative arts
Friday 6 March 10.30am-1pm £15/£10 concs
Booking essential: 020 7247 2584 info@alternativearts.co.uk

This workshop is a great opportunity for you to get into writing comedy for performance and will give you some useful tips on how to get your material broadcast and actually have a career as a writer. The workshop will cover basic principles in
* Finding a voice for stand-up
* How to write topical comedy
* How to write a sketch
* How to write narrative
* Getting an agent
* The difference between writing for TV or radio and the best way to go about either.

Danielle Ward, has been on the comedy circuit since 2004. She won a BBC Radio Writer’s Bursary in 2006/7 and was ‘Time Out’ Critics Choice Best Newcomer in 2006. Danielle has built a reputation as an exciting & original writer. Her credits include ‘The Now Show’, ‘The News Quiz’. ‘Harry Hill’s TV Burp’, ‘David Quanticks Broken Arts’, and ‘The Lee Mack Show’. She is also developing a new sit-com for BBC TV.

WISEWORDS COMEDY NIGHT

LIZ BENTLEY, YARA EL-SHERBINI, CYNTHIA HAMILTON,
RIA LINA, DANIELLE WARD.
produced by alternative arts

Friday 6 March 7.30pm (café/bar doors open 6.30pm)
Tickets: £10/£8 concs
Booking: 020 7320 2222 moreinfo@thewomenslibrary.ac.uk

WISEWORDS presents a remarkable, refreshing line-up of talented, lively female comics and poets celebrating comedy writing, with a twist!

LIZ BENTLEY – describes herself as a ‘sit-down’ comic who plays the ukelele and Casio keyboard and is also a writer, poet and therapist. She has performed 3 successful shows on the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and often entertains in therapeutic and mental health environments. Her personal experience of disability has created her passion and drive to want to smash the apartheid between disability and mainstream arts.

YARA EL-SHERBINI presents her pithy Pub Quiz with acerbic wit and a little wisdom. As a visual artist her playful and multidisciplinary approach uses popular culture and humour to make engaging works that explore art & life. An Egyptian/Jamaican mix Yara makes you giggle and makes you think.

CYNTHIA HAMILTON is a quirky, spiky, motormouthed poet with her own particular take on life. Her work has been published in ‘The Penguin Book of New Black Writing in Britain’ and ‘Moving Voices: Black Performance Poetry’ and she has had two plays produced by BBC Radio 4.

RIA LINA with her dry wit and little ukulele, has been a regular on the stand-up comedy circuit for the past six years. She has written and presented her own documentary for Channel 4 looking at revealing the truth behind many of the myths that surround oriental women in Britain today. She also filmed the comedy series ‘Malai Monologues’ and the ‘Sweet n’ Sour’ sketch show for BBC 3 and ‘Meet the Blogs’ for ITV 2.

DANIELLE WARD with her twisted sensibilities and darkly absurd humour, has been described as ‘delightfully naughty’ and ‘the most exciting female talent around’. She won a BBC Radio Writer’s Bursary in 2006/7 and was ‘Time Out’ Critics Choice Best Newcomer in 2006. She has built a reputation as an exciting & original writer. Her credits include ‘The Now Show’, ‘The News Quiz’, ‘Harry Hill’s TV Burp’, ‘David Quanticks Broken Arts’ and ‘The Lee Mack Show’.

Open Event – Everyone welcome

Produced by Alternative Arts 020 7375 0441
info@alternativearts.co.uk www.alternativearts.co.uk

WOMEN AND THE ARCHIVE: A Partial Disclosure
Saturday 14 March 1pm-6pm FREE
Booking essential: 020 7320 2222 moreinfo@thewomenslibrary.ac.uk

Presenting four perspectives on the relationships between women and the archive in contemporary artistic production. Artists and collectives using archives as source material or constituting archives as their primary activity are invited to present their rarely shown collections of photographs, videos and audio recordings around women of artistic, social and political importance. Issues around provenance, methodology, property and historization will be addressed throughout the afternoon and discussed with the contributors and guest speakers in a panel discussion. Presentations, screenings and performances by The Otolith Group, Cinenova, The Remembering Olive Collection and Marysia Lewandowska.

This event has been devised by Anna Colin and Mia Jankowicz for Canal as part of ‘The Street’, a year long series of artists commissions by the Whitechapel Gallery on and around Wentworth Street E1.

BLOWING THE COVER
Saturday 28 March 10am-1.30pm £20/£15 concs
Booking: 020 7320 2222 moreinfo@thewomenslibrary.ac.uk

A day of talks exploring a variety of topics in the history of women’s magazines.

* British Vogue’s response to World War II
British Vogue covered an impressive range of topics during the Second World War, most notably featuring the extraordinary work of war correspondent and photographer Lee Miller. Dr Becky Conekin (London College of Fashion, University of the Arts) discusses how her often witty and sometimes shocking reportage disrupted the pages of Vogue and played a major role in constructing wartime femininity.

* The agony and the ecstasy: sex, fiction and the problem page
Popular magazines have long used problem pages and romantic fiction to speak to women’s sexual desires. Fiona Hackney (University College Falmouth) explores how women’s dreams and debates featured in the 1920s and 1930s, arguing that magazines made an important, often overlooked, contribution to new ways of understanding, imagining and talking about sex and female desire.

* How to be a feminist: Women’s Magazines of 1970s
The relationship between women’s magazines and feminism is an intriguing one, particularly in the 1970s when a range of dedicated publications such as Spare Rib, Red Rag and Shrew played an important part in raising feminist consciousness. Dr Laurel Forster (University of Portsmouth).

BETWEEN THE COVERS
Women’s Magazines and their Readers
To 5 September 2009 FREE
Open Mon-Fri 9.30am-5.30pm (Thursday till 8pm) Saturday 10am-4pm.

Indulge yourself with this captivating, colourful and fun exhibition that tells you everything you need to know about women’s magazines. How do magazines influence women’s lives and reflect their readers? Between the Covers charts the evolution of women’s magazines from the 1600s to the present day, showcasing some of the most influential titles, with sections devoted to love & relationships, fashion and beauty, house and home, mapping how magazines have responded to women’s changing aspirations.

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wisewords is co-ordinated by alternative arts
Top Studio, Montefiore Centre, Hanbury Street, E1 5HZ
+44(0)20 7375 0441
info@alternativearts.co.uk
http://www.alternativearts.co.uk

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wisewords diary

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