Women in Liberation Struggles - Celebrating Creativity

On Friday 17th June, the Embassy, in partnership with Soma Book Café, hosted a literary event exploring women in liberation struggles, one of a series of events commemorating the 1916 Rising.

The literary event, hosted at Soma Book Café, provided a space for Tanzanian and Irish cultural exchange which celebrated women’s literary expression and examined some of the obstacles women poets, artists and writers experience when establishing themselves as artists in society.

The event was preceded by a creative writing workshop lead by the Irish poet Vona Groarke and Tanzanian counterpart Janet Namara. This workshop brought together young and aspiring Tanzanian poets and writers to explore the themes of poetry, literary expression and the role of the artist in political struggles.

Later than evening, the young poets and spoken word artists enthralled an audience of women rights activists, artists, authors and the media with poetry in languages of Kiswahili, English and Irish.

Speaking at the event, Ambassador Fionnuala Gilsenan recalled the role of poets and artists in Ireland's independence struggle and the continuing importance of the poet in Irish society, while connecting the Irish and Tanzania experience where poetry and the spoken word is a key form of artistic expression.