Below is a message from Lifelines who are organising a great event in memory of Ken Saro-Wiwa.“Dear Friends,
We have a remarkable line up for Lifelines’ next gig, Fighting The Oil Giant, to be held at The Phoenix Artists Club , off Charing X Rd on Wednesday 30th November at 7.30pm.
John Haynes is the winner of the Costa Award for Poetry in 2006 and the Troubador Poetry Prize (2007). He lived in Nigeria for 18 years.
Joshua Idehen is a founding member of fusion performance group Benin City. He is described as one of the most talented spoken word artists, not just from Nigeria, but of his generation.
Anne Rouse is a gifted wordsmith, whose numerous books, including The Sunset Grill, The School of Night and Timing have been published by Bloodaxe to international acclaim.
Richard Evans is the author of two exquisite collections, The Zoo Keeper and Orbiting.
More details…Fighting the Oil Giant pits performers against the might, (or should that be shite?) of Shell and Chevron, both linked with murders, human rights abuses and environmental destruction on a massive scale in the Niger Delta. Shell alone have extracted hundreds of billions of petrodollars in profit from Nigeria, cynically fueling local conflicts and fouling up the water supply in the regions their pipelines run through, in the process. Oil spills have been systematically leaching into the water table for over 45 years poisoning fish, crops and vulnerable people. While the Oil Giants’ directors and shareholders sit back on obscene profits, many in Nigeria cannot drink clean water nor find an uncontaminated meal.Fighting the Oil Giant is a fundraising gig in support of the Remember Saro-Wiwa campaign, coordinated by Platform, London. Ken Saro-Wiwa was a writer and activist, a member of the Ogoni Nine who were all executed by the Nigerian state on November 10th, 1995 for standing up to The Oil Giant.
You will find details and a map of the venue here http://www.timeout.com/london/
Tickets cost £7 / £5 concessions and can be purchased on the door
All money will be donated to The Remember Saro-Wiwa campaign.
Hope to see you there! And please forward this to anyone you think would be interested.”