Join Yassmin Abdel-Magied and lisa minerva luxx in a rigorous conversation about literature’s role within transnational activism. The two speakers are leading political voices in their own field, and will be drawing on an embodied language of justice as well as sharing research from fellow activists. Expect a deep dive into their personal narratives of dissenting from citizenship, plus short readings from their own books.

This will be a relevant discussion for people from any diaspora and anybody who feels the social contract between the British Government and its people has been irreparably broken.

All proceeds will go towards grassroots networks in Cairo who are supporting Sudanese families escaping the eruption of violence back home.

About the speakers:

lisa minerva luxx* is an award-winning poet, playwright, activist and essayist of British Syrian heritage. In 2021 luxx released Fetch Your Mother’s Heart, an innovative poetry collection which received wide critical acclaim in the national press and literary journals. She has written three verse plays including Eating the Copper Apple (produced by a team of Arab women artists), what the dog said to the harvest and From Dusk til Dawn, the Moon is Listening (which was developed by young people from Palestine, Italy, Syria, Beirut and the UK). luxx’s Channel 4 short film Lesbian. won five awards including Best LGBTQ short at Independent Shorts Awards, Alongside the film’s broadcast, other works from luxx have featured on BBC Radio 4, TEDx and ITV.

Across universities from New York to Beirut, luxx guest lectures on post-colonial and decolonial literary analysis, the queer body politic, and revolutionary poetics. Her short stories on experiences in foster care and adoption are published by Comma Press, who are publishing her full short story collection in Spring 2024.

luxx founded Nehna Hon, an anti-racist collective in Beirut who set-up free daycare, job support, rent and food assistance plus urgent action for victims of the kafala system (human trafficking and slave trade). Before that she was co-founder of eLaa Beirut, an international organisation of highly qualified mental health professionals working in the field of trauma; the organisation was created to support the mental health services in Lebanon following the Beirut Blast of 2020.

*name de-capitalised intentionally

Yassmin Abdel-Magied is a Sudanese diaspora writer, broadcaster and award-winning social advocate. A former mechanical engineer, Yassmin has published four books, written two plays and is currently developing a number of projects for screen. Across fiction and non-fiction, Yassmin explores human and power dynamics in politics, culture and technology. From tiktoks to literary essays, Yassmin analyses systemic challenges, reframes established narratives and makes complex ideas accessible to all.

An award-winning speaker and globally sought-after advisor on engaging diverse communities and inclusive leadership, Yassmin has delivered keynotes and workshops in 25 countries in Arabic, English and a smattering of French. She founded her first organisation, Youth Without Borders, at the age of 16, leading it for nine years before co-founding two other organisations focused on serving women of colour. Yassmin is currently a Trustee of the London Library and on the Executive Committee of the Black Writers Guild. Her TED talk has been viewed over 2.5 million times and recognised as one of TED’s top 10 ideas.

In all her work, Yassmin is an advocate for transformative justice and a fairer, safer world for all.