Tessa Leuwsha and David McKay in conversation with Henriette Louwerse. This event explores the importance of re-writing Dutch colonial stories from new perspectives and the art of translating them. Surinamese-Dutch author Tessa Leuwsha’s novel, Plantation Wildlust, is set in Suriname in the early twentieth century. It depicts the power structures following the abolition of slavery. Leuwsha is “keen to present different…
In 1970 protests at the Miss World contest at the Albert Hall attracted headlines around the world with women arrested and a subsequent trial, events captured in the 2020 film Misbehaviour. This book tells the story of the protesters in the words of the rebels themselves including Sheffielder Jenny Fortune. Join her and other editors of the book as they talk…
Writer Désirée Reynolds has been working as Writer in Residence in Sheffield Archives. The Take It To The Streets project aims to bring Black and marginalised voices out of the Archive, provide some form of reparative justice and to reveal to the public a Sheffield past that has not been looked at on this scale before. For this illustrated talk,…
Firth HallFirth Court, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, S10 2TN
Jack Guinness’s popular website QueerBible.com is a space dedicated to queer history. Now his beautiful, illustrated book The Queer Bible continues his mission celebrating queer culture for LGBTQI+ community and its allies. A stellar line-up of today’s queer icons including Graham Norton and Russell Tovey write about the queer trailblazers, from Susan Sontang to James Baldwin, who inspired them. At…
Bernardine Evaristo, from a childhood steeped in racism to setting up Britain’s first theatre company for Black women in the eighties, to growing into the trailblazing writer and activist, offers insights into the nature of race, class, feminism, sexuality and ageing in modern Britain. It’s a manifesto for anyone who has ever stood on the margins. Tickets £13/£10. Part of…
English PEN, one of the world’s oldest human rights organisations, celebrate their 100th anniversary this year and Off the Shelf were invited to be part of their celebratory programme. For Dear Sister, participants wrote a letter to a ‘sister’ – an inspirational woman in their life – responding to a letter created by workshop leader, Somali Italian writer and performer…
