Challenging Britannia: Black British Women Speak Volumes

Seven Interviews with Joy Francis. Introduction by Sharmilla Beezmohun

A fantastic initiative highlighting the living legacy of older Black women artists and creatives, whose narratives continue to be underrepresented in the archives [and] whose entrepreneurial work deserves attention. Bernardine Evaristo

The brainchild of creative entrepreneur Joy Francis, these seven interviews, held as public events in south London from February to May 2025, enable future generations to learn about groundbreaking cultural changes that black women have made in the face of numerous barriers still all-too prevalent in the British arts scene.

The seven artists are:

Paulette Randall, theatre and TV director;

Dominique Le Gendre, contemporary classical music composer;

Ingrid Pollard, photographer and multimedia artist;

Sharon Watson, dancer and choreographer;

Anni Domingo, actress and novelist;

Verna Wilkins, children's writer and publisher; and

Valerie Bloom, Jamaican-language poet and writer.

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‍‍Challenging Britannia: Black British Women Speak Volumes is edited by co-founder of Speaking Volumes and GPI Trustee Sharmilla Beezmohun and published by the George Padmore Institute for Speaking Volumes.

‍Part of the Women Speak Volumes Between Generations project organised by Speaking Volumes

Funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Burroughs Fund at Coastal Carolina University. Partners include: 198 Contemporary Arts and Learning, the George Padmore Institute and Words of Colour Productions

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