Archive for November, 2009

Friday 20 November

6pm AWA meeting – Southbank Centre, Queen Elizabeth Hall Foyer , London SE1.(not the Royal Festival Hall but as you face it, the building on the left, where the Purcell Room is)

Nearest underground: Waterloo or Embankment

Agenda – Aims and objectives of the Centre;AWA Achievements;Taking the Centre forward; officer roles; membership; future projects and progammes. How to get involved. We look forward to hearing your ideas and suggestions.

7.30pm AFRICAN WRITERS’ EVENING feat. Nadifa Mohammed & a parade of emerging writers
Friday 20 November 2009, 7.30pm
Weston Pavilion, (top floor – usually used as a ‘corporate’ space). Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX
FREE (Invitation only – please send your name by e-mail to events@x-bout.com)
Info: www.x-bout.com/awe

For our annual finale, African Writers’ Evening returns to its exploratory origins – with four short readings from emerging writers, followed by a featured reading from Nadifa Mohammed, a Somalian writer who is herself still waiting for the release of her first novel by HarperCollins. Hosted by Nii Ayikwei Parkes.

AUTHOR BIO:

NADIFA MOHAMED - Born in Hargeisa, Somalia in 1981 as the country fell into dictatorship, Nadifa Mohamed moved to London with her family in 1986, just before the beginnings of civil war as Siad Barre lost his grip on power. She was educated in London and went to Oxford to study History and Politics. Her début novel, Black Mamba Boy, based on the true story of her father’s life in 1930s, was acquired by HarperCollins UK in 2008.. Nadifa is currently working on her second novel.

END

Debut Playwright Lydia Besong and Human Rights Campaigner Bernard Batey told to leave UK

Lydia Besong is a writer.  Her debut play “How I Became an Asylum Seeker” is being staged by Community Arts Northwest (CAN) at the Zion Theater in Hulme, Manchester on 3^rd December.  She is also on the Management Committee of WAST (Woman Asylum Seekers Together).

Bernard Batey, her husband, has been leading for the national award-winning Human Rights organisation RAPAR in a partnership with Revive, Changemakers, Boaz Trust and Citizens for Sanctuary.  Together, they have opened Manchester’s first voucher exchange network.

On Thursday night, 29^th October 2009, this married couple got back to their home in Rochdale after a busy day to find a letter from the Border and Immigration Agency telling them that they must go back to Cameroon, the country they fled from late at night on December 17th 2006.

Both Lydia and Bernard were tortured in Cameroon and, as well as being tortured in gaol, Lydia was raped by one of the guards.   This happened because Lydia and Bernard were members of SCNC [Southern Cameroon National Council].  SCNC is an organization that is fighting for the freedom and liberation of southern Cameroon [English Speaking Cameroon].

Lydia and Bernard’s MP, Paul Rowen, says:  “I believe Bernard and Lydia have a genuine case for political asylum and I don’t say that about every case I see.”

Reverend Graham Lindley, Parish Priest at St Anne’s Church, Belfield, Rochdale, has backed Bernard and Lydia to the hilt.  He is calling on the Home Office to grant them leave to remain in this country.

Former Rochdale MP Sir Cyril Smith is also backing Lydia and Bernard’s case and wrote to the Home Secretary on their behalf.

One of the reasons Lydia wrote the play that is now about to have its premiere was to find a way of coping with the horrors of what had happened to her, and also to raise awareness and educate people about Asylum.

Jasmine Ali, Lead Artistic Manager for CAN says:  I have been working closely with Lydia over the last few months to help her produce a short play that she has written which highlights important issues faced by women asylum seekers in the UK.  Lydia has been an inspiration for the artistic team with her dedication and commitment to the project.  Without her contribution WAST (Women Asylum Seekers Together) would not have had the confidence to devise and perform their play to a wider audience.

Recently Lydia has been working with RAPAR and Commonword to collect stories about people in Manchester who are destitute.    This publication is being launched in the spring.  Commonword’s Artistic Director, writer Pete Kalu, says: “Lydia has been a tremendous resource in helping us to find new pathways to new writers in communities.”

Send messages of support to Lydia and Bernard c/o RAPAR 6 Mount Street Manchester M2 5NS or email admin@rapar.org.uk

And send your message that Lydia and Bernard must stay, quoting – Lydia Ebok Besong &Bernard Oben Batey:  HO Ref: B1236372 to

FAX:  Home Office on 0208-760-3132

Email: CITTO@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk; UKBApublicenquiries@UKBA.gsi.gov.uk; Privateoffice.external@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

and cc admin@rapar.org.uk

For further information contact:

• RAPAR’s Press Officer Kath on 0161-225-2260 or kath.northernstories@googlemail.com
• RAPAR’s office:  0161-834-8221 or admin@rapar.org.uk