artist 01 Oct 2021
A photograph of Black writer Désirée Reynolds smiling at the camera

Désirée Reynolds

Writer and Archival Activist

Désirée Reynolds, (she/her) a South Londoner up North, was brought up in Clapham, London to Jamaican parents and now living in Sheffield. She told her Mum, at about 8 years old, that she was going to write a book and has been writing ever since. She started her writing career as a freelance journalist for the Jamaica Gleaner and the Village Voice. She has gone on to write film scripts, poetry, flash fiction and short stories. Her first novel, Seduce, was published in 2013 to much acclaim by Peepal Tree Press. Her fiction is concerned with working class Black women, internal landscapes and a continuous struggle against the white, male gaze, notions of beauty, race and being. Committed to anti racism and intersectionality, she draws on her experiences of these to make her creative work. Her short stories have been widely published in various publications and online.

She is the writer in residence at Sheffield Archive, where she founded and creative director of Dig where you stand.

A photograph of Black writer Désirée Reynolds smiling at the camera

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artist 01 Jan 2024

Wemmy Ogunyankin

A selfie photograph of Nigerian artist Wemmy Ogunyankin looking to the side of the camera with her head slightly tilted A selfie photograph of Nigerian artist Wemmy Ogunyankin looking to the side of the camera with her head slightly tilted

I am a visual anthropologist/ethnographer who specialises in photography, documentary and poetry. My work concerns a deep exploration of the lived experiences of minoritised and underrepresented groups. As a Black woman, I look to challenge the co-opting of storytelling, to uncover hidden stories, do grassroots work with local communities, decolonise the lens, and in turn contribute to intersectional feminist creative practice.

A selfie photograph of Nigerian artist Wemmy Ogunyankin looking to the side of the camera with her head slightly tilted A selfie photograph of Nigerian artist Wemmy Ogunyankin looking to the side of the camera with her head slightly tilted