Discussing Decolonisation x Black History Month 2026

A two-part film screening and guest lecture event at York St John University, exploring writing and/as resistance in the Niger Delta.
About this Event

The Discussing Decolonisation series at York St John University continues on Friday 30th October with a special screening of the documentary feature film, 'Hope is a Word', followed by virtual Q&A with the writer and director, Maria Galliani Dyrvik, and Nigerian environmental activist and poet, Nnimmo Bassey.

'Hope is a Word' premiered at Sheffield Doc Fest in June 2026, and follows acclaimed poet and activist Nnimmo Bassey as he works with a new generation of writers fighting oil extraction in the Ogoni region of the Niger Delta, asking whether poetry can carry a long history of resistance into the future. Watch the trailer .

The film screening and Q&A will be followed by a guest lecture from Professor Madhu Krishnan, Professor of African, World and Comparative Literatures and Director of the Centre for Black Humanities at the University of Bristol.

The event schedule is as follows, and more information can be found below:

• 11.30-11.45: Welcome and opening remarks from series co-conveners (CC/201)

• 11.45-13.15: 'Hope is a Word' film screening (CC/201 - in-person only)

• 13.15-14.00: Virtual Q&A with Maria Galliani Dyrvik and Nnimmo Bassey (CC/201 - in-person for attendees)

• 14.00-15.00: Interval / Comfort break (Atrium)

• 15.00-16.30: Guest lecture and Q&A with Prof Madhu Krishnan (DG/124 - hybrid)

Part 1: Hope is A Word - film screening and Q&A

Film synopsis: Nigerian poet and activist Nnimmo Bassey has spent his life fighting oil extraction. For decades, oil has poisoned the Niger Delta and brought violence and division. Seeing around him a new generation full of fears and hopes, Nnimmo invites a group of young people to write with him. Among them are Barinedum, an Ogoni writer, Odudu, a strong-minded activist, and Nnimmo’s son Ukpono, a young rapper. In the safe space of his workshops, they begin to tell their own stories through poetry, finding a way to heal and a weapon for change. After a lifetime of resistance, Nnimmo wonders: can they carry on the struggle?

Running time: 82 mins

Followed by post-screening Q&A with Maria and Nnimmo: 45 mins

Part 2: Guest Lecture - Professor Madhu Krishnan

'On Literary Activism and Writing as Resistance'

In this talk I trace the history of writing as a subversive practice in Africa over the last 100 years. Why did literature become a site of threats for governments? Why did writers, from Kenule Saro Wiwa to Ngugi wa Thiongo find themselves in the crossfire of hostile, colonialist governments? What can we learn from the intersection of creative potential and activist praxis such as seen in writers involved in the Ogoni fight for justice? I draw links between the workings of Shell BP in the 1950s, the writings of Saro Wiwa (echoed in his own daughter's travelogue of her return to Ogoniland) and more recent writing on the role of BRICS and multinational corporations in the 'new colonialism' to consider the ways in which creative writing functions as an archive of resistance.

Speaker bios:

is Professor of African, World and Comparative Literatures at the University of Bristol. She is author of several books, most recently (2026), with Dr Doseline Kiguru, and (2025), as part of the Bristol University Decolonial Collective. She is currently working on a project on reimagining the world through contemporary African literature. Madhu is also a founding member and former director of the Centre for Black Humanities at the University of Bristol. She works actively with literary collectives in Africa to interrogate the landscapes of independent literary production on the continent.

Nnimmo Bassey is an environmental activist, author and poet from the Niger Delta. Under Nigeria’s military regime in the 1990s, his activism led to imprisonment, and he lost friends and companions at the hand of the State and complicit corporations. Despite the sacrifices, he has remained committed to the struggle, leading major environmental organizations and receiving worldwide recognition and human rights awards. For Nnimmo, poetry is both a tool for resistance and a form of healing. His poetry collections include We Thought It Was Oil, But It Was Blood (Kraft Books, 2002), I Will Not Dance to Your Beat (Kraft Books, 2011) and I See the Invisible (Daraja Press, 2023; Kraft Books, 2024), and he is also author of To Cook a Continent: Destructive Extraction and the Climate Crisis in Africa (Pambazuka Press, 2012) and Oil Politics: Echoes of Ecological War (Daraja Press, 2016).

Maria Galliani Dyrvik grew up between the Norwegian fjords and the Italian Alps. Working across documentary, animation, sound installations and collaborative projects, she explores how the stories we inherit about the past and the future can be reimagined together. Her films have screened at festivals including Durban International Film Festival, Interfilm Berlin and Nordisk Panorama. 'Hope is a Word' is her first documentary feature. The film premiered at Sheffield Doc Fest 2026, in the International First Feature competition.

Please note that the film and post-screening Q&A will both be in-person only, but the guest lecture will be livestreamed via MS Teams. You will have the option to select an online-only ticket for the lecture when booking a place.

The event is free and open to anyone, as part of the ongoing public Discussing Decolonisation series at York St John University. If you would like to receive updates about forthcoming events in the series, please sign up to our mailing list.

If you have any questions about the event itself, please email co-conveners Lucy Potter ([email protected]) and/or Laura Key ([email protected]).

Photo credit: Anita Vedå