The WHEAT Trust, a grantee partner of AWDF, will launch FemPress, a publishing house to amplify the visibility of grassroots women and their stories next month.
I am the Rose
If you are in the Cape Town (SA) area, join the December 2nd launch festivities which include the unveiling of I am the Rose, a collection of poetry and art by Zulfa Abrahams.
Zulfa Abrahams is a poet, artist and feminist scholar from Cape Town, with an interest in identity politics, gender and embodiment and mixed media visual art. She has MA in Women’s and Gender studies where she examined Muslim women and the politics of power and gender. She is currently undertaking her doctoral study which focuses on emerging technologies, women,power and education.
Recently, Zulfa has taken a keen interest in expanding her artistic work as a sketch artist and painter to include a number of mediums. She is particularly interested in the ways in which visual art empowers and provides a feminist space for intellectual creativity.
Inspiring women such as Diana Ferrus and Dr. Nadia Sanger will be leading the conversation at the launch.
FemPress, a publishing house for grassroots women stories in Africa
Grassroots women are sorely under-represented in the dialogue surrounding the issues that most affect their lives. Thus, they are often robbed of their physical and literary voices.
Instead of speaking on their behalf, The WHEAT Trust strongly believes that they deserve the opportunity to tell their own stories.
In April 2013, WHEAT hosted a writing skills workshop for some Western Cape grantees that work in the field of Gender Based Violence in their communities.
They published a first book containing these grantees’ personal stories born from the workshop. The book was entitled Every Scar Tells a Story.
This has inspired other women, like Zulpha, to come forth and tell their stories, and highlighted the need for a platform through which to raise their voices.
Thus, it is WHEAT’s aim that the launch of FemPress will enable women to share their stories, articulate their needs and share in the mainstream media in print as well as the additional digital platform.
To find out more about The WHEAT Trust and how you can help, visit the organisation’s website.