Inua Ellams – författare

From the award-winning poet and playwright behind Barber Shop Chronicles, The Half-God of Rainfall is an epic story and a lyrical exploration of pride, power and female revenge. There is something about Demi. When this boy is angry, rain clouds gather. When he cries, rivers burst their banks and the first time he takes a shot on a basketball court, the deities of the land take note.His mother, Modupe, looks on with a mixture of pride and worry. From close encounters, she knows Gods often act like men: the same fragile egos, the same unpredictable fury and the same sense of entitlement to the bodies of mortals.She will sacrifice everything to protect her son, but she knows the Gods will one day tire of sports fans, their fickle allegiances and misdirected prayers. When that moment comes, it won’t matter how special he is. Only the women in Demi’s life, the mothers, daughters and Goddesses, will stand between him and a lightning bolt.

From the award-winning poet and playwright behind Barber Shop Chronicles, The Half-God of Rainfall is an epic story and a lyrical exploration of pride, power and female revenge. There is something about Demi. When this boy is angry, rain clouds gather. When he cries, rivers burst their banks and the first time he takes a shot on a basketball court, the deities of the land take note.His mother, Modupe, looks on with a mixture of pride and worry. From close encounters, she knows Gods often act like men: the same fragile egos, the same unpredictable fury and the same sense of entitlement to the bodies of mortals.She will sacrifice everything to protect her son, but she knows the Gods will one day tire of sports fans, their fickle allegiances and misdirected prayers. When that moment comes, it won’t matter how special he is. Only the women in Demi’s life, the mothers, daughters and Goddesses, will stand between him and a lightning bolt.

LONGLISTED FOR THE RATHBONES FOLIO PRIZE 2021Including essays from the author published for the first time in print'I was blown away by this book' BERNARDINE EVARISTOThe Actual is a symphony of personal and political fury sometimes probing delicately, sometimes burning with raw energy. In poems that swerve and crackle with a rare music, Inua Ellams unleashes a full-throated assault on empire and its legacies of racism, injustice and toxic masculinity. Written on the author's phone, in transit, between meetings, before falling asleep and just after waking, this is poetry as polemic, as an act of resistance, but also as dream-vision. At its heart, this book confronts the absolutism and 'foolish machismo' of hero culture from Perseus to Trump, from Batman to Boko Haram. Through the thick gauze of history, these breathtaking poems look the world square in the face and ask, 'What the actual . . . ?''Bristles with energy . . . Consistently vivid' GUARDIAN

Theatre has a complex history of responding to crises, long before they happen. Through stage plays, contemporary challenges can be presented, explored and even foreshadowed in ways that help audiences understand the world around them. Since the theatre of the Greeks, audiences have turned to live theatre in order to find answers in uncertain political, social and economic times, and through this unique collection questions about This anthology brings together a collection of 20 scenes from 20 playwrights that each respond to the world in crisis. Twenty of the world’s most prolific playwrights were asked to select one scene from across their published work that speaks to the current world situation in 2020. As COVID-19 continues to challenge every aspect of global life, contemporary theatre has long predicted a world on the edge. Through these 20 scenes from plays spanning from 1980 to 2020, we see how theatre and art has the capacity to respond, comment on and grapple with global challenges that in turn speak to the current time in which we are living. Each scene, chosen by the writer, is prefaced by an interview in which they discuss their process, their reason for selection and how their work reflects both the past and the present. From the political plays of Lucy Prebble and James Graham to the polemics of Philip Ridley and Tim Crouch. From bold works by Inua Ellams, Morgan Lloyd Malcom and Tanika Gupta to the social relevance of Hannah Khalil, Zoe Cooper and Simon Stephens this anthology looks at theatre in the present and asks the question: “how can theatre respond to a world in crisis?” The collection is prefaced by an introduction from Edward Bond, one of contemporary theatre’s most prolific dramatists.

Newsroom, political platform, local hot spot, confession box, preacher-pulpit and football stadium. For generations, African men have gathered in barber shops to discuss the world. These are places where the banter can be barbed and the truth is always telling.Barber Shop Chronicles, which was partly inspired by verbatim recordings, is a heart-warming, hilarious and insightful play that leaps from a barber shop in Peckham to Johannesburg, Harare, Kampala, Lagos and Accra over the course of a single day.It was first produced by the National Theatre, Fuel and Leeds Playhouse in 2017 and is here publishedas a Methuen Drama Student Edition with commentary and notes by Oladipo Agboluaje.

It’s a simple idea, really. 1. Wear a uniform; 2. Protect who you love, what you care about; 3. Let nothing get in your way.Someone mugged Bruce’s mum and he is not having it. The shock is still visible in her trembling fingers, rippling out across the calm waters of their lives. He grabs his hoodie, his uniform, his cape and goes out to find the culprit. Smithy wants everyone to stay inside, Uhuru wants everyone out. Tanya thinks it’s boyish fun and games until, very suddenly, it isn’t.Inua Ellams's play questions the boundaries between our right to self-defense and taking the law into our own hands. Told with five roles spanning from young people to adults, it deals with themes that young people face today: the role of boundaries and what happens when someone 'crosses the line'; fear and the use of self-defense; and examining different perspectives on a situation.Originally commissioned by Synergy Theatre Project Cape premiered at London's Unicorn Theatre in 2013 and went on to tour schools, prisons and a young offender institution. This new edition, published within Methuen Drama's Plays For Young People series features notes for teachers and exercises for students for practical use in the classroom.

Barber Shop Chronicles is a generously funny, heart-warming and insightful new play set in five African cities, Johannesburg, Harare, Kampala, Lagos, Accra, and in London.Inspired in part by the story of a Leeds barber, the play invites the audience into a unique environment where the banter may be barbed, but the truth always telling. The barbers of these tales are sages, role models and father figures who keep the men together and the stories alive.Inua Ellams's celebrated play was first produced by the National Theatre, Fuel and Leeds Playhouse in 2017.

Are you angry with policing or Polyneices?Them, we can change. He, is dead. Speakto Creon... Ask him to release Polyneices...we will bury him quietly, peacefully, together.A torn family. A hostile state. One heroic brother. One misguided son. One conflicted sister, and the second is on the run. This is a blistering retelling of Sophocles' epic story from the writer of Barber Shop Chronicles, Inua Ellams.Antigone first premiered at Regent Park's Open Air Theatre in September 2022. This revised edition was published in June 2023.

Rediscover Anton Chekhov's acclaimed works in radical, creative new ways.The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard: Chekhov's major plays have been perennially popular since the late 19th century. But, as a new wave of diverse, contemporary theatre makers engage with his legendary works, these classics are transformed and reimagined by bold new approaches. In doing so, Chekhov's original drama is not only explored but reanimated and interrogated in revolutionary ways.From an ambitious one-person production, to a dance-poetry-play hybrid, to an intergalactic voyage, Chekhov’s work has never been so expansive or his experimental spirit so realised. This collection draws together seven contrasting adaptations, ranging from the formally inventive, to those that relocate the originals in times and places that expose forces of privilege and power.With an introduction by Frances Babbage which equips the reader with key methods of conceptualising dramatic adaptation, as well as providing a critical overview of the long history of Chekhovian rewritings for the stage, Adapting Chekhov in the 21st Century is a much-needed tool for adaptation and theatre studies students and Chekhov enthusiasts alike.

Rediscover Anton Chekhov's acclaimed works in radical, creative new ways.The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard: Chekhov's major plays have been perennially popular since the late 19th century. But, as a new wave of diverse, contemporary theatre makers engage with his legendary works, these classics are transformed and reimagined by bold new approaches. In doing so, Chekhov's original drama is not only explored but reanimated and interrogated in revolutionary ways.From an ambitious one-person production, to a dance-poetry-play hybrid, to an intergalactic voyage, Chekhov’s work has never been so expansive or his experimental spirit so realised. This collection draws together seven contrasting adaptations, ranging from the formally inventive, to those that relocate the originals in times and places that expose forces of privilege and power.With an introduction by Frances Babbage which equips the reader with key methods of conceptualising dramatic adaptation, as well as providing a critical overview of the long history of Chekhovian rewritings for the stage, Adapting Chekhov in the 21st Century is a much-needed tool for adaptation and theatre studies students and Chekhov enthusiasts alike.

It’s a simple idea, really.1. Wear a uniform2. Protect who you love, what you care about3. Let nothing get in your waySomeone mugged Bruce’s mum and he is not having it. The shock is still visible in her trembling fingers, rippling out across the calm waters of their lives. He grabs his hoodie, his uniform, his cape and goes out to find the culprit. Smithy wants everyone to stay inside, Uhuru wants everyone out. Tanya thinks it’s boyish fun and games until, very suddenly, it isn’t.

When we were young, we worshipped stars,gleaming long-limbed godsframed in the act of impossible flight.For a time we tried to follow,to carve out our own piece of skywith a butter-smooth arc of an armand a Spalding ball glued to the fingertips…Seen from a British perspective, The Spalding Suite gets to the heart and soul of the gravity-defying game and delves into the hopes and dreams of those who play it. From the fleeting high of the score and the robust camaraderie of the team, to the poignant lows of a body too worn to play the game.

1988: at four-years-old, he short-circuited his home with a silver spoon and a Betamax video player.1989: stopped a 700-strong student assembly with a tantrum.1995: was chased through jungle growth by a crazed, frustrated French teacher called Monsieur Batcock...Misfit? Apparently – until a little family research reveals a pattern of mischief reaching as far back as a great grandfather, and so the story begins:I'm from a long line of trouble makers, of ash skinned Africans, born with clenched fists and a natural thirst for battle only quenched by breast milk. They'd suckle as if the white silk sliding between gums were liquid peace treaties from mums. The 14th Tale is a beautiful mellifluous narrative that tells the hilarious exploits of a natural born mischief, growing from the clay streets of Nigeria to rooftops in Dublin and finally to London by award-winning writer and performer Inua Ellams.

Inua Ellams has established himself as one of the most distinctive voices in British and international theatre. Collected together for the first time are four of Ellams’ acclaimed plays, including The 14th Tale, Untitled, Black T-Shirt Collection and Knight Watch.

Ink Tales reinvigorates fairy tales and myths from around the world, breaking barriers and challenging stereotypes throughout. Illustrated by Inkquisitive (Amandeep Singh) in his vibrant signature Indian inks, each story is accessible and visually inspiring. Travel across oceans and discover the vengeful wrath of a River God in Kayo Chingonyi's West African tale. Soar too close to the sun with Inua Ellam's timely story of a young refugee girl. Fly to a mysterious castle inhabited by a cursed prince with Helen Mort's retelling of East of the Sun, West of the Moon. Uncover the truth of #Bluebeard with Joelle Taylor's modernised fairy tale. Look to the constellations with Will Harris' futuristic Greek tragedy, and never, ever answer to your name in Malika Booker's Trinidadian recreation of the Dwen. Bedtime Stories for the End of the World is produced in partnership with the ground-breaking poetry podcast of the same name. The six featured poets draw on their own experience, adding a new dimension to an existing tale. 'Bedtime Stories for the End of the World' is a spoken word and poetry podcast about the power of myth and the politics of storytelling. The podcast asks some of the UK's top poets to re-imagine their favourite myths, fairy tales and legends - the stories they want to keep and protect for the future. It also involves an annual live event, creating a tangible and accessible experience for existing and new audiences. Reimagined tales include Icarus, the legend of the Zambezi River God, East of the Sun West of the Moon, Bluebeard, Philoctetes and the Trinidadian folklore figure 'douen'.

To name something is to call it into life, to determine its future. If we let our children name themselves, will they author their own destinies? Will the nameless ones be free? Untitled is a magical realist story set in Nigeria and England, of identical twin boys separated at infancy. In the quarrel after the marred naming ceremony, the mother grabs the titled child and flees, leaving the unnamed brother to lead an impetuous, chaotic, blasphemous existence until the spirits of the land make their stand.

“The wild things they did with those tees. Some held together by wooden pins. Some strung to wear just once. Some of long thin detachable sleeves...”A T-shirt is something most people have. It is a common denominator like a pair of blue jeans or a pair of Converse All Stars. From Fringe First winner Inua Ellams, comes a new story about two foster brothers building a global t-shirt brand. On their journey from a market in Nigeria to a sweatshop in China, Matthew and Muhammed discover the consequences of success. The play tackles capitalism and exploitation, as well as sectarianism and homophobia in modern day Nigeria.

In a world where tower blocks are stone mountains and city walls are urban tapestries retelling epic fights, Michael keeps away from the warring tribes until a passerby helps him out of a tight situation. Instantly, he is pulled into the culture he has tried to escape. The city spirals out of control as battle lines are drawn and redrawn. In the quest for balance, loyalty, faith and friendships are tested, but will Michael succeed in ending the war? In rhythmic, sizzling poetry award-winning spoken word artist, Inua Ellams, conjures the violence of a city not unlike London and imagines a more beautiful world beyond it.

The second in the ground-breaking mouthmark series, 13 Fairy Negro Tales is a vibrant pamphlet of contemporary poetry. In language scooped directly from a paintbrush, Inua Ellams announced his arrival on the poetry scene, with what has become a runaway bestseller. Written in language that has roots in Keats, hip hop rhymes and Shakespearean narrative, 13 Fairy Negro Tales has sold over 2000 copies since its release.

'The mouthmark Book of Poetry' is an anthology of the individual-author titles published under the mouthmark poetry pamphlet series, comprising the work of Nick Makoha, Inua Ellams, Jacob Sam-La Rose, Jessica Horn, Truth Thomas, Denise Saul, Malika Booker, Janett Plummer and Warsan Shire. The series was conceived by flipped eye publishing's senior editor, Nii Ayikwei Parkes, as a means to get poets from non-mainstream backgrounds - including performance - into print. It was revolutionary for two reasons; first, it was a pamphlet series developed with a specific aim (later, tall-lighthouse would launch its pilot series, and, much later, Faber would launch its New Poets Initiative); second, it was a finite series - to end after ten pamphlets. After some success with the first two pamphlets in the series, Nick Makoha's 'The Lost Collection of an Invisible Man' (2005) and Inua Ellams' '13 Fairy Negro Tales' (2005), the Arts Council of England provided funding for the next four. It took six years for the series to be completed, but its impact far exceeded expectations.Authors such as Inua Ellams, Jacob Sam-La Rose (later editor of the last pamphlet in the series), Nick Makoha and Warsan Shire, have risen to international prominence; three of the pamphlets were cited by the Poetry Book Society pamphlet selectors for their quality; five of the poets have since been chosen for the ground-breaking national Complete Works development programme for UK poets of minority ethnic backgrounds; and Truth Thomas's from his pamphlet 'Party of Black' (2006) was chosen for Nikki Giovanni's 'The 100 Best African American Poems' (Sourcebooks, 2010). Crucially, the series retailed admirably as well, with over 10,000 copies sold at events - and through conventional retail channels. Now, with the release of 'The mouthmark Book of Poetry', readers can experience all nine individual poets published under the mouthmark poetry pamphlet series in this collectible volume that retains hallmarks of the iconic series, such as the distinctive brown paper-look cover with bold black designs.

Candy-Coated Unicorns and Converse All Stars is a document of transformations: the possibilities that walk the fine line between the real and the surreal, the mundane and the extraordinary. Contemporary culture clashes with mythology as Bruce Lee angles for space alongside Prometheus on pages where twin towers burn and yellow hues bleed into London sunsets. Yet is is also a text of conversations: the commerce of possibilities, the transformations that memory can inflict on the present, the clear light that today can cast on yesterdays. And through it all there is music - both references to music and musicians and a music of language that Inua Ellams seems to be exploring, testing, riffing on.

Poetry Book Society Special Commendation for Spring 2012. Welcome to a strange new world in which a poem can be written using only one vowel, processed through computer code, collaged from film trailers, compiled from Facebook updates, hidden inside a Sudoku puzzle, and even painted on sheep. Discover a multitude of new and unusual poetic forms – from tweet to time-splice, and from skinny villanelle to breakbeat sonnet – in this inspiring and inventive anthology. Adventures in Form features over ninety poems by forty-six contributors including Patience Agbabi, Christian Bök, Joe Dunthorne, Inua Ellams, Roddy Lumsden, Ian McMillan, Paul Muldoon, Ruth Padel and Hannah Silva. Editor: Tom Chivers is a writer and literary arts producer. His books include How To Build A City (2009) and The Terrors (2009), which was shortlisted for the Michael Marks Award. He has edited the Penned in the Margins books Generation Txt (2006), City State: New London Poetry (2009) and Stress Fractures: Essays on Poetry (2010). He received an Eric Gregory Award in 2011. He was also co-Director of London Word Festival from its inception in 2008 until 2011, and was a recipient of a Breakthrough Award from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation.