From a young age this Strong Manchester Woman felt that she wasn’t accepted into society. She grew tired of the narrative that went along her identity as a South Asian, Muslim woman.
To put it simply, she wasn’t having it. So she decided to fight back and write her own narrative, by becoming a performance poet and producer.
In this episode, your host Vic Elizabeth Turnbull speaks to Nasima Begum. When she’s not being a badass poet, Nasima works in youth development – with a focus on building the confidence and resilience of young Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and Refugee girls.
In early 2019 she was awarded a prestigious Jerwood Creative Fellowship to make new work for that year’s Manchester International Festival.
In this episode Nasima talks about,
- Pushing back against stereotypes
- Being a cat mum
- What really spurred her to become a performance poet
- Learning the hard way about the importance of looking after yourself
- Battling with self-doubt and getting comfortable with being uncomfortable
- Life after loss
- Being the most unorganised woman in the world
- How she’s #NotHavingIt and standing up for herself
Links and information
- This is the Bangleshi Women’s Organisation where Nasima works
- Nasima’s a board member for Young Identity, a spoken word collective for young people in Manchester
About Strong Manchester Women
The stories of fourteen women from across Manchester, who are making a positive difference and lasting impact in our communities.
British Podcast Award nominated.
Listen here.
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