Sunday 24 March 1830 - 2000
A collaborative event between our two writers-in-residence
Olive and Billy will perform and read from their work, followed by a conversation and Q&A to discuss shared themes that have arisen during their time in residence at Exeter Custom House.
They will explore the season theme of heritage in relation to their work, the individual, and wider social and political context of their respective African ancestry.
Olive will be displaying artworks during the course of the week of her residency. The displayed works are artistic expressions of the poems that she will perform on the final night of her international residency visit from South Africa.
Come along and join in the discussion.
Click the ‘Book Now’ button for an in-person ticket. Alternatively, you can sign up for an online place by booking for the livestream here.
Presented in partnership with Poetry Africa and Africa Writes – Exeter
About the writers
Billy Kahora has written a non-fiction novella titled The True Story Of David Munyakei (2010) and a short story collection, The Cape Cod Bicycle War (2019). His story Urban Zoning was shortlisted for the Caine Prize for Africa Writing in 2012, The Gorilla’s Apprentice in 2014. He wrote the screenplay for Soul Boy and co-wrote Nairobi Half Life which won the Kalasha awards. His short fiction and creative non-fiction has appeared in Chimurenga, McSweeney’s, Granta Online, Internazionale, Vanity Fair and Kwani. He has just completed a novel titled Babilon Falling. He is currently a Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Bristol and is also a founding partner of Saseni! a creative writing teaching platform leading writing workshops in East Africa and Bristol.
Olive Olusegun is a Nigerian, Kenyan-born South African resident. She is a multi-disciplinary artist who uses poetry, performance, art, and architecture in various mediums to story-tell and “story-reveal”. Her passion in life is to connect with people, cultures, and places through these various forms of artistic expression. Olive has performed twice at one of Africa’s largest Poetry Festivals, Poetry Africa, and came 2nd place in the 2023 Slam Jam finals. She is also the winner of “Sign and Slam” where she performed one of her poems in South African Sign Language. Oscillating between intrapersonal experiences, embodying the stories of fellow women, and targeting larger socio-political issues through intimate narratives, Olive’s hope is to increase empathy, and awareness and reveal stories that are often hidden or easily discarded.
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This event will be in-person at Exeter Custom House. You can find out more about the accessibility of the Custom House here. If you have any access needs you’d like to discuss with us before the event you can contact us on quaywords@literatureworks.org.uk. We can offer free carer tickets if you need help to support you to attend.