OPINION | Vimal Korpal | Birmingham’s female ‘Voices of Experience’

Okay, so these aren’t all of the Voices of Experience in Brum but are some of the ‘Voices of Brum’, and they need to be heard, especially Asian women’s voices as we never hear enough about their creative work.

Luckily, Sampad (South Asian Music Performance and Dance) provide this platform in Birmingham.

On Sunday, Sampad organised an event at mac Birmingham called Voices of Experience,  enabling new writers to voice their creative talents through poetry, short extracts and monologues. This was all part of International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month.

Why is Women’s History Month important?
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Here’s short video I filmed with the participants, giving their views as to why Women’s History Month is important:

The poems and monologues – Free, Dear Dad, Phenomenal Women, Time, What’s Wrong with the Skin I’m In? – were written and performed by Rushnara Mahamud and Tamanna Abdul Karim.

Two short stories,  John and My Brother’s Friend, reflecting a slice of time as a carer and as a servant, were both written by and performed by  Diya Sen.

The talented 17-year-old Samiha Mahamud wrote a period piece, Mrs Whitlock, about a young women deliberately enslaved in a mental institution by her husband.

Abda Khan also read excerpts from her novel called Stained and held a Q&A session after the reading.

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Vimal Korpal

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