Storyhouse Women Weekend is a celebration of what it means to be a women or a girl in the world today, and a chance to explore and discuss topics that affect anyone who identifies as a woman or a girl. We want to create a safe space to discuss and tackle these issues together.
Previous festivals have included line-ups of incredible women who want to share their stories and experiences with Chester, and events to inspire and enable us to create change. Join us for a weekend of talks, panel discussions, performances, workshops, music, poetry, debates and more, celebrating women and girls and exploring global issues including feminism, careers, domestic violence, Islamophobia, overcoming addiction, women in sport, rape culture, trans stories and more.
We can’t wait to welcome you all back to Storyhouse Women events once it is safe to do so.
In the meantime, here’s some ways that you can get involved and celebrate women and girls, today and in the future:
Women in Books
Storyhouse Women Book Club is continuing on Zoom. Calling all like-minded individuals of all ages with a love of books, feminism and sticking it to the patriarchy! Come along and gather once a month to chat. This is an all-inclusive group for anyone looking for some interesting discussions and who would like to make a change – one book at a time. Find out more and join here.
Storyhouse Library have also put together a list of 20 Books That Every Woman Should Read – take a look here.
Women in Film
Feminista Film Tour 2021
Celebrate women in the film industry – we’ve teamed up with Feminista Film Tour to bring you six short films. From a rising-star rapper to the Liver Birds and trailblazing explorers in the wilderness to a millennial MP, these are stories of inspiring and changemaking women. Find out more and stream the films.
Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliché
Poly Styrene was the first woman of colour in the UK to front a successful rock band. She introduced the world to a new sound of rebellion, using her unconventional voice to sing about identity, consumerism, postmodernism, and everything she saw unfolding in late 1970s Britain, with a rare prescience. As the frontwoman of X-Ray Spex, the Anglo-Somali punk musician was also a key inspiration for the riot grrrl and Afropunk movements.
“Punk attitude lives on, because of the spirit of its fearlessness to try to change things for the better.” – Poly Styrene
But the late punk maverick didn’t just leave behind an immense cultural footprint. She was survived by a daughter, Celeste Bell, who became the unwitting guardian of her mother’s legacy and her mother’s demons. Misogyny, racism, and mental illness plagued Poly’s life, while their lasting trauma scarred Celeste’s childhood and the pair’s relationship.
Featuring unseen archive material and rare diary entries narrated by Oscar-nominee Ruth Negga, this documentary follows Celeste as she examines her mother’s unopened artistic archive and traverses three continents to better understand Poly the icon and Poly the mother.
“She defined and energised punk. There was something authentically heroic about Poly Styrene.”★★★★ – The Guardian
Find out more and stream Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché here.
Women in your Local Area
Storyhouse Women has a Facebook group, where over 700 local Storyhouse Women chat, connect and share. Join the group here.
Stay tuned for more Storyhouse Women events soon!