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