Art, Expression and Identity Across Cultures: Leila Aboulela, Amira Al Shanti, and Dean Atta
University Of Aberdeen
King's College
Aberdeen
AB24 3FX
How does an identity formed of multiple cultures inform the art you create? This panel with writer Leila Aboulela, actor, playwright and artist Amira Al Shanti, and poet Dean Atta, will discuss identity, expression and acceptance across cultures.
Leila Aboulela is the author of six novels, among them River Spirit , The Translator , Minaret and Lyrics Alley , which was Fiction Winner of the Scottish Book Awards. Leila was the first ever winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing and her story collection Elsewhere, Home won the Saltire Fiction Book of the Year Award. Her stories have been included in significant anthologies such as New Daughters of Africa and Scottish Stories (Everyman Library Pocket Classics Series). She is Honorary Professor of the WORD Centre at the University of Aberdeen and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
Amira Al Shanti is a Scottish Palestinian writer, actor and singer. Her work has been published in The Herald and the online zine Dardishi . She also wrote and starred in the short film Said the Dove to the Olive Tree (Interabang Productions) and followed this up with a spoken word piece at the Take One Action Film Festival 2022. Amira has recently completed a doctorate in Psychology and has had publications of her work in scientific journals. She received a YWCA Scotland 30 under 30 award in 2020. In 2023, Amira was shortlisted for The Kavya Prize.
Dean Atta is an award-winning author and performance poet. He won the 2012 London Poetry Award and was named as one of the most influential LGBT people by the Independent on Sunday Pink List. He has written two YA novels-in-verse which include The Black Flamingo, which was a top-selling debut of 2020 and was shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, CILIP Carnegie Medal, the Jhalak Prize and the YA Book Prize. The Black Flamingo was also awarded the prestigious Stonewall Book Award and the Carnegie Shadowers’ Choice Award 2020. Person Unlimited is his non-fiction debut.
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