Kristina Kay Robinson is a writer and visual artist from New Orleans, and the co-editor of Mixed Company, a collective of five women writers and one female visual artist.  Robinson’s work has appeared in Guernica, The Nation and Xavier Review, and she was a guest speaker at the recent festival Internazionale a Ferrara in Northern… Continue reading Interview with Kristina Kay Robinson

A war of words: Stefan Adegbola (Charles )and Beatriz Romilly (Chipo). Photo: Richard Lakos Theatre: Arcola Theatre Play: After Independence Playwright: May Sumbwanyambe Director: George Turvey Review by Joy Francis After Independence, May Sumbwanyambe’s riveting, intelligent yet flawed full length debut, is set in Zimbabwe in 1998 when Robert Mugabe’s controversial policy of repossessing land… Continue reading After Independence

Home sweet home?: Ben Deery, Rebecca Oldfield, William Troughton, Wole Sawyerr and Gloria Onitiri. Photo: Robert Day Theatre: Richmond Theatre Play: Clybourne Park Playwright: Bruce Norris Director: Daniel Buckroyd Review by Arani Yogadeva Clybourne Park, which explores the intersection of race, class and the ironies of proprietary gentrification, was a theatrical hit for its American… Continue reading Clybourne Park

May Sumbwanyambe was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, a year after his parents immigrated to the UK from Zambia. Despite being set for a career in law, watching Roy Williams’ play Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads set him on a different path as a writer. Now 30, Sumbwanyambe has toiled hard to earn his stripes,… Continue reading Interview with May Sumbwanyambe 

Fierce loyalty: (l-r) Akash Heer, Lucie Shorthouse, Ashraf Ejjbair, Shalini Peiris and Gary Wood. Photo: Robert Day Theatre: Theatre Royal Stratford East Play: The House of In Between Playwright: Sevan K. Greene Director: Pooja Ghai Review by Snehal Amembal The House of In Between transports you to the by-lanes of Patna, Eastern India, and introduces… Continue reading The House of In Between

Book: Chronicles of Zauba’ah Author: Tosin Coker Publisher: N9neformation Price: £12.99 Review by Ronke Lawal Zauba’ah is a N9nth Degree Warrior Scientist of galactic accolade who has been charged with the mission of incarnating into the form of an adolescent girl to pass judgement on the human race.

Book: Being Dad: Short Stories About Fatherhood Editor: Dan Coxon Publisher: Tangent Books Price: £9.99 Review by Carl Palmer When 15 contemporary writers share untold experiences of fatherhood through fictional short stories, you know you’re in for something special. And this inspired collection lists some tantalising names in anticipation of a good read.

Fact or fiction?: Siu Hun Li (Fake Mao), Stephen Hoo (Fake Mao) and Rebecca Boey (Fake Mao). Photo: Nobby Clark Theatre: Arcola Theatre Play: The Sugar-Coated Bullets of the Bourgeoisie Playwright: Anders Lustgarten Director: Steven Atkinson Review by Arani Yogadeva This epic tale, tracing the formation of modern China through the stages of revolution, has… Continue reading The Sugar-Coated Bullets of the Bourgeoisie

Game playing: Pepter Lunkuse (Cordelia) and Don Warrington (King Lear). Picture credit: Jonathan Keenan Theatre: Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester Play: King Lear Playwright: William Shakespeare Director: Michael Buffong Review by Carl Palmer Such was the excited anticipation surrounding Don Warrington’s version of King Lear, the erstwhile ruler deranged by family treachery, that I feared for… Continue reading King Lear

In the first of a three part series on African sci-fi, self published author Tosin Coker reveals that she had no plans to be a writer, or to write for the genre. Yet a challenge set by a friend to write 2000 words on random topics led to the creation of her first book in… Continue reading The tale of an accidental sci-fi writer