Inua Ellams and Madhu Krishnan
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.
From the award-winning poet and playwright behind Barber Shop Chronicles, on stage at Bristol Old Vic this May, The Half-God of Rainfall is an epic story and a lyrical exploration of pride, power and female revenge.
Inua Ellams will be talking with Dr Madhu Krishnan, Senior Lecturer in Postcolonial Writing at the University of Bristol, about his astonishing new novel and the power of storytelling through theatre and poetry.
Born in Nigeria in 1984, Inua Ellams is an internationally touring poet, playwright, performer, graphic artist & designer. He is an ambassador for the Ministry of Stories and has published four books of poetry: Candy Coated Unicorns and Converse All Stars, Thirteen Fairy Negro Tales, The Wire-Headed Heathen and #Afterhours. His first play The 14th Tale was awarded a Fringe First at the Edinburgh International Theatre Festival and his fourth Barber Shop Chronicles sold two runs at England’s National Theatre and is showing at Bristol Old Vic this May. He is currently adapting several plays for film and television. In graphic art & design, online and in print, he tries to mix the old with the new, juxtaposing texture and pigment with flat shades of colour and vector images. He lives and works from London, where he founded the Midnight Run, a nocturnal urban excursion. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
Presented in partnership with Festival of Ideas
