#Inua Ellams

[frontmezzjunkies]

Two Big Plays: "3 Fingers Back" & "Three Sisters" Take to the Toronto Stage to Unpack War, Colonialism, Violence, and Oppression.

#frontmezzjunkies reviews: #DonnaMichelleStBernard's #3FingersBackPlay A @tarragontheatre &#LemonTreecreations co-production & #InuaEllams' #spThreeSisters adaptation after #Chekhov #otcThreeSisters A @Soulpepper & @obsidiantheatre co-production

The cast of Soulpepper’s Three Sisters. Photo by Dahlia Katz. The Toronto Theatre Review: Tarragon/lemonTree’s 3 Fingers Back & Soulpepper/Obsidian’s Three Sisters By Ross Two plays take to the Toronto stage in two nights courtesy of a few wonderfully inventive theatre companies, delivering some deeply moving and ultimately compelling theatre that sets its eyes on Africa, to explore some…

[shelley-sackett]

With “The Half-God of Rainfall,” A.R.T. Once Again Breaks New Production Ground

Cast of “The Half-God of Rainfall,” at A.R.T. Credit: Lauren Miller By Shelley A. Sackett Will we ever become inured to the other-worldly team at American Repertory Theater and its ability to sprinkle fairy dust on Boston’s theater scene? With “The Half-God of Rainfall,” now in production through September 24, the answer is a resounding “No!” It helps that Nigerian native Inua Ellams’s sinuous…

[caroleditosti]

'The Half-God of Rainfall' at NYTW, Review

'The Half-God of Rainfall' is an intriguing dramatization of Inua Ellams' epic poem about gods and men

Mister Fitzgerald in The Half-God of Rainfall at NYTW (courtesy of the production) Inua Ellam’s epic poem The Half-God of Rainfall, has been brought to life with theatrical grist at New York Theater Workshop. Currently running until 20th August, the reconfiguration of Greek, Yoruba archetypes and myths are merged against a modern backdrop of an Olympic basketball champion born of mixed raced…

[the-lightbulb-and-the-octopus]

Mid-Year Book Freak Out

My good friend @logarithmicpanda tagged me!

Number of books you’ve read so far: 59,5

Best book you’ve read so far in 2024: No new books really made it to the top three, but discovering The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern was nice.

Best sequel you’ve read so far in 2024: Either book 2 or 3 of the series The Gods of Men by Barbara Kloss? I only read two series this years, disliked one and found the other just so-so...

New release you haven’t read yet but want to: I don't follow releases at all...

Most anticipated release for the second half of the year: Same answer.

Biggest surprise favorite new author (debut or new to you): Inua Ellams! I really liked reading The Half-God of Rainfall

Newest fictional crush: None, sadly.

Book that made you cry: I may not have cried real tears, but The Half-God of Rainfall that I've previously mentionned was very moving.

Most beautiful book you’ve bought so far this year (or received): I really like the covers for Stacey Halls' books! Technically I bought this one a while ago but only read it now so... I was a bit disappointed by the story though.

Book that made you happy: Mrs England by Stacey Halls. The end was very satisfying. Sometimes you don't need more than that~

What books do you need to read by the end of the year? : Not really looking forward to it, but I have a very important exam that will partly be on The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald. Apart from that, I'm trying to get through a few prompt lists, so Babel, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, and a few classics are also on the menu.

Open tag because I don't know anyone! Feel free to consider this an invitation

[infamousmonkey-cat]

Part one of actors reading out South Africa's case file against Israel at the ICJ.

Full list of participants: Khalid Abdalla, Tunde Adebimpe, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Adam Bakri, Kathleen Chalfant, Steve Coogan, Liam Cunningham, Charles Dance, Stephen Dillane, Inua Ellams, Paapa Essiedu, Lena Headey, Aida El-Kashef, Maaza Mengiste, Tobias Menzies, Sepideh Moafi, Indya Moore, Peter Mullan, Cynthia Nixon, Maxine Peake, Dario Ladani Sanchez, Susan Sarandon, Maisie Richardson Sellers, Alia Shawkat, Wallace Shawn, Morgan Spector, Carice van Houten, Harriet Walter, Zukiswa Wanner

[citylifeorg]

Governors Island Arts Announces 2024 Fall Season

Jenny Kendler “Other of Pearl” Governors Island, 7-31-24 © Julienne Schaer Performances by Inua Ellams and Lenio Kaklea, new exhibitions from New Art Dealers Alliance and Escaping Time: Art from U.S. Prisons anchor fall arts season on Governors Island Other of Pearl, Jenny Kendler’s acclaimed ecological public artwork co-presented with NRDC, on view through November 3 Governors Island Arts…

[cppsheffield]

Centre for Poetry and Poetics in Collaboration with Black Humanities Series Presents:

A Reading With Safia Khan, Inua Ellams and Imtiaz Dharker

Venue: The Diamond, LT2, The University of Sheffield, 6pm.

Safia Khan is a junior doctor and poet. Her debut collection (Too Much Mirch) was published in 2022 with Smith | Doorstop and won the New Poets Prize. She has been commissioned to write and deliver lectures in poetry for various universities and literary organisations, including The British Library, The University of Oxford, The Poetry Business, and the Hippocrates Initiative for Poetry and Medicine. Her work has been published in various journals and anthologies including The North, BATH MAGG, Poetry Wales, Introduction X: The Poetry Business Book of New Poets (New Poets List), We’re All in It Together: Poems for a disUnited Kingdom (Grist), Dear Life (Hive), Surfing the Twilight (Hive). -- Born in Nigeria, Inua Ellams is a poet, playwright & performer, graphic artist & designer. He is a Complete Works poet alumni and facilitates workshops in creative writing where he explores reoccurring themes in his work - Identity, Displacement and Destiny - in accessible, enjoyable ways for participants of all ages and backgrounds.

His awards include: Edinburgh Fringe First Award 2009, The Liberty Human Rights Award, The Live Canon International Poetry Prize, The Kent & Sussex Poetry Competition, Magma Poetry Competition, Winchester Poetry Prize, A Black British Theatre Award and The Hay Festival Medal for Poetry. He has been commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company, National Theatre, Tate Modern, Louis Vuitton, BBC Radio & Television. His poetry books include ‘Candy Coated Unicorn and Converse All Stars’ published Flipped Eye, 'The Wire-Headed Heathen' by Akashic Books, The Half God of Rainfall by 4th Estate and The Actual by Penned in The Margins. His plays include ‘Black T-shirt Collection’, ‘The 14th Tale’, ‘Barber Shop Chronicles’ and ‘Three Sisters’ published by Oberon. He founded The Midnight Run (an arts-filled, night-time, urban walking experience.) The Rhythm and Poetry Party (The R.A.P Party) which celebrates poetry & hip hop, and Poetry + Film / Hack (P+F/H) which celebrates Poetry & Film. -- Imtiaz Dharker grew up a 'Muslim Calvinist' in a Lahori household in Glasgow, was adopted by India and married into Wales. She is an accomplished artist and video film-maker, and has published six books with Bloodaxe, Postcards from god (including Purdah) (1997), I Speak for the Devil (2001), The terrorist at my table (2006), Leaving Fingerprints (2009), Over the Moon (2014) and Luck Is the Hook (2018). Her seventh, Shadow Reader, is published in 2024. All her poetry collections are illustrated with her drawings, which form an integral part of the books; she is one of very few poet-artists to work in this way. She was awarded The Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry for 2014, presented to her by The Queen in spring 2015, and has also received a Cholmondeley Award from the Society of Authors and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Over the Moon was shortlisted for the Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry 2014. Her poems are on the British GCSE and A Level English syllabus, and she reads with other poets at Poetry Live! events all over the country to more than 35,000 students a year. She has had a dozen solo exhibitions of drawings in India, London, Leeds, New York and Hong Kong. She scripts and directs films, many of them for non-government organisations in India, working in the area of shelter, education and health for women and children. In 2015 she appeared on the iconic BBC Radio 4 programme Desert Island Discs. In 2020 she was appointed Chancellor of Newcastle University. She lives in London.

Please note this is an in-person event and we would love you to be there but if you can't make it to Sheffield you can log in by no later then 5.50 on the following link: meet.google.com/fdh-igyk-hrr

Recording now available:

[helloyoucreatives]

The Guardian launches a new global marketing campaign –‘Not for sale’ – emphasising the Guardian's unique ownership model and strong tradition of robust, editorial independence. The work focuses on the strengths of the Guardian’s reader-funded model that helps to keep Guardian journalism open to all and positions this as a key reason for people to trust and financially support the Guardian. 

Collaborating with creative agency Lucky Generals, this is the Guardian's first brand campaign since 2019’s ‘Hope is Power’ and embraces a new strategic and creative approach. Fresh bold designs and confident statements of independence are based on insight that the Guardian’s reader-funded model allows it to be open to all, but beholden to no one. This gives it the power to break stories no one else can, but also drives a huge range of emotive reactions that are celebrated in the work. 

The campaign coincides with the launch of the Guardian’s Europe edition that provides readers on the continent with a tailored English-language edition of the Guardian website and app for the first time. 

A brand new film directed by New York-based duo Rubberband and created by Lucky Generals, will showcase how the Guardian delights and challenges readers around the world. An ambitious undertaking, the film charts this multitude of reactions and features a voice over from writer and artist Inua Ellams. 

With an intense and emotive soundtrack the film quickly cuts between shots of how the Guardian is consumed by people as the voiceover uses single powerful words to describe the emotions it stirs and the way its content is used.

The campaign also features a range of bold and bright posters that will run alongside each other digitally and out of home, proudly proclaiming the Guardian to be “Loved”, “Hated”, “Trusted", “Feared”, “But never controlled”. 

The campaign creative will be seen worldwide across the Guardian’s own channels to showcase its strengths in telling powerful stories, while emphasising the importance of reader support. The creative will span audio, video, newsletters, print and social, with a paid media focus in the UK and Europe. Digital screens and posters will also feature across major European cities in the Guardian’s biggest ever European marketing push, including Amsterdam, Berlin, Dublin and Paris, as well as London, Manchester, Bristol, Liverpool and Edinburgh.   

The film will feature on Channel 4 (on demand and linear), in cinemas in the UK from 25 September, and on a range of digital and social platforms across Europe, showcasing how the Guardian delights and challenges readers around the world. 

[antonio-velardo]

Antonio Velardo shares: ‘The Half-God of Rainfall’ Review: Basketball Under the Heavens by Juan A. Ramírez

By Juan A. Ramírez Borrowing its powers from Greek and Yoruba mythologies, Inua Ellams’s play tells the story of a demigod who becomes an N.B.A. superstar. Published: August 1, 2023 at 09:43AM from NYT Theater https://ift.tt/kp10szn via IFTTT

[newstodayjournal]

Why Basketball Is So Popular Off Broadway

In Inua Ellams’s new play, “The Half-God of Rainfall,” the gods play thunderous games of basketball in the heavens. For Candrice Jones’s “Flex,” high schoolers practice their defensive stances while scraping by in rural Arkansas. Near the end of Rajiv Joseph’s “King James,” the two main characters play a one-on-one game of basketball using a crumpled up piece of paper after waxing poetic about…

[frontmezzjunkies]

NYTW's The Half-God of Rainfall Shoots but Doesn't Quite Score

#frontmezzjunkies reviews #TheHalfGodOfRainfall @nytw79 w: #InuaEllams d: #TaibiMagar w/ #JasonBowen #KelleyCurran #MisterFitzgerald #PatriceJohnsonChevannes #MichaelLaurence #LizanMitchell #JenniferMogbock #NewYorkTheatreWorkshop #OffBroadway #newplay

Mister Fitzgerald (center) and the cast of NYTW’s The Half-God of Rainfall. Photo by Joan Marcus. The Off-Broadway Theatre Review: NYTW’s The Half-God of Rainfall By Ross With a mystical donning of a strongly stated yellow hat, New York Theatre Workshop‘s dynamic and visually impressive play, The Half-God of Rainfall stomps forward, dribbling like a pro in a way that might make the Gods quake.…

[awesomeplayquotes]

Boys should never see their fathers fall. It upturns worlds and steals words. 

- The 14th Tale, Inua Ellams

[carminamasoliver]

Freelance Reflections #48

I didn’t write last week as I was hoping to share some photos of the Poetry Party, but still yet to see them. For now, here’s some pictures of the lovely park. I performed my poem, ‘The Missing Scissors’, twice. The first time, I bombed it and forgot the lines three quarters of the way through. The second time, I smashed it, and could go home with my head held high. It was really fun to take part…

[disbander-of-armies]

Review of Inua Ellams’ The Half-God of Rainfall

In Inua Ellams’ book The Half-God of Rainfall, gods of all pantheons roam the Earth and Ṣàngó, the Nigerian god of thunder, loses a bet against Zeus, which allows Zeus to rape a woman from Ṣàngó’s realm, the mortal Modupe. This leads to the birth of Demi, the boy whose tears make the rain fall.

I don’t want to say more about the plot since the book is only 84 pages long. It’s also written in verse, which, even though it is very short, gives the story the feel of a great epic. I also really loved to see the gods of Nigeria interact with the Greek gods, something I have never seen before in a story.

But the reason why I really wanted to do a review of this book is because of its depiction of Zeus. He is very clearly the villain of this story. I have made several posts in the past speaking out against people making Zeus out to be nothing but a rapist and I haven’t changed my mind on this. But I think in this book it is done right. What has always bothered me about these posts is that they insist on this very one-sided reading of Greek mythology (and Greek religion) and completely deny its beauty and complexity. But no one can deny that these stories have strong patriarchal elements (they come from a patriarchal society, after all). In The Half-God of Rainfall, this reading of Greek mythology is used to explore the power dynamics between men and women and between white people and people of color in today’s world. And I think this is great!

I certainly don’t recommend this book to everybody (it heavily deals with the subject of rape) but I think it is a very topical book for 2020.

[goodblacknews]

(via Playwright Inua Ellams discussed research behind ‘Barber Shop Chronicles’ – Harvard Gazette)