Griot

Nia Centre for the Arts is a Toronto-based charity that supports, promotes, and showcases art from across the Afro-Diaspora. We build the creative capacity of our community and support the development of a healthy identity in young people through artistic development, mentorship and employment opportunities. We are a platform for the arts that is rooted in the diversity of Black-Canadian experiences. In 2021, we hand-selected six emerging writers to participate in the Black Pen writing intensive program. The writers in this program challenged themselves, honed into their craft, stepped into their greatness and dedicated themselves to their collective manuscript-GRIOT: Sojourn into the Dark. Follow the writers through a deep and authentic exploration of their literary voices as we 'Sojourn into the Dark'; a collection of fiction and nonfiction that crosses borders, from Nigeria to Jamaica, explores themes of loss and connection, and embraces tradition while pushing the art of storytelling forward.

Yvvana Yeboah Duku is a nineteen-year-old writer, whose work pulls out the topics swept under the rug and uses vulnerability in her works to relate to all those who find resonance. Adeola Egbeyemi is a Halifax-born writer and undergraduate Arts and Science student at McMaster with work appearing in PITCH Magazine, JIRR Waterloo, and International Affairs Forum and Inquiries Journal. Onyka Gairey is a Black queer writer from Toronto, they write to dream futures unfound. Saherla Osman is a Black Muslim storyteller who believes the happiest and saddest times of her life start and end with writing. Kais Padamshi is a writer whose work centres on themes of cultural identity, belonging and healing. Omi Rodney is a writer who wants you to remember things you thought you'd forgotten, whose work returns something of yours back to you, who reminds you what the Caribbean has given you. ___________________________________________ Nia Centre for the Arts is a Toronto-based charitable organization that supports, showcases and promotes an appreciation of arts from across the Afro-Diaspora. Nia Centre is committed to supporting artists working across disciplines, and ranging in experience levels. niacentre.org Black Pen is a four-month intensive creative writing program for emerging Black writers between the ages of 16-29. Facilitated by Whitney French, scholarly writer and editor, participants will have the opportunity to deeply and authentically explore their passion and skill for writing, culminating in the creation of a published book distributed across the country. Black Pen aims to embolden an understanding of how writing can be used to empower oneself and one's community. By providing a safe and encouraging space for writers to learn practical literary skills participants get to authentically explore their literary voices through a hands-on creative process. Yvvana Yeboah Duku, Onyka Gairey, Saherla Osman, Adeola Egbeyemi, Kais Padamshi and Omi Rodney were selected to participate for 2021-22. niacentre.org/what-we-do/youth-mentorship-engagement/black-pen-creative-writing-program