DIASPORA: Project
Non-Fiction Anthology - Experiences of immigrant, migrant and refugee women from Asia and Africa, settled in Wales
The UN General Assembly declared 2015-24 as the International Decade for People of African Descent. In keeping with this significant and long-overdue recognition of African Peoples and those of the African Diaspora in the global context, we at Honno, aim to not only similarly recognise and highlight the voices of women from the African Diaspora in Wales, but also broaden the scope to include the voices of women from the Asian Diaspora, now settled in Wales. These are often the most marginalised voices and it is our aim to bring them to the forefront. The story of Wales in the twenty-first century would not be complete without including the experiences of immigrant, migrant and refugee women from Asia and Africa . Their stories are integral to the fabric of a multiculturally rich and modern Wales.
Dr. Faaeza Jasdanwalla-Williams, a Honno Committee Member, will be primarily editing this volume, in conjunction with Mohini Gupta and Chinyere Chukwudi-Okeh.
Faaeza Jasdanwalla-Williams, originally from Mumbai, India, is a historian of women in the Ottoman Empire in the Early Modern Period and of the African Diaspora in India. After completing her Doctorate from Aberystwyth University, she went on to teach in the Department of History at Aberystwyth University for ten years. She stepped down from teaching immediately prior to the Covid pandemic and soon after joined Honno as a Committee Member in 2020. Since then, she has been working closely with Honno on this project as well as on the Script Committee. She is multilingual, which will aid in conducting interviews with those women whose English language skills are not yet strong.
Chinyere Chukwudi-Okeh, originally from Nigeria, is currently resident in Swansea and is closely involved with the African Association there, which is not limited to aiding African people, but also helps asylum seekers and refugees from other countries. She recently completed her Masters in Creative Writing from Swansea University and joined Honno on a temporary basis to help forge direct links with immigrant and migrant communities throughout Wales and encourage women from these communities to engage with this project and contribute their stories.
Mohini Gupta, originally from New Delhi, India, is currently a Doctoral candidate at Oxford University working on pedagogy and language teaching in India and Wales. She has been closely connected with Wales since she won the Charles Wallace Fellowship at Aberystwyth in 2017. She writes poetry in Hindi and has also been learning Welsh. Her ties with Wales therefore, have afforded her various connections in Wales, including links with immigrant and migrant women throughout Wales. She too joined Honno early this year on a temporary basis to work specifically on this project.
All three women are currently working on interviewing, writing and editing the experiences of a number of women that they have contacted and connected with since the start of this year. The aim is to encourage as many contributions as possible by the end of this year, and begin editing the contributions thereafter, ready for publication in 2024.
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