Upcoming events.
Onwu Di Njo: grief songs workshop with Nkeiruka Oruche
Drawing from her Igbo ancestry and culture, this workshop invites participants to connect to their ancestral cultures and explore/create song or spoken word as tools for grief and commemoration of loved ones who have died. Onwu Di Njo is part of Nkeiruka Oruche’s ‘Obi gbawara’m//My Heart Shattered or What happens after I die?’ (OGB) researching and documenting traditions of death and grief in Igbo culture, and the African diaspora. The session will feature an introduction/context, song sharing, personal connection, and creation time inspired by the project.
2025 World Arts West Dance Festival
The 2025 World Arts West Dance Festival is a 3-weekend global dance & music festival that focuses on the theme of “Dance as Health and Healing,” exploring what constitutes a healthy community and how we use dance for connection and solidarity.
About Nkeiruka Oruche
Nkeiruka Oruche is an Igbo multimedia creative, and cultural producer. She created and directed ‘Mixtape of the Dead & Gone #1’ dance-theater comedy about death and igbo cosmology. She is founder and director of Afro Urban Society, a non-profit organization dedicated to boosting art, media, and the tough-but-necessary conversations of the African diaspora. She co-founded and stewarded BoomShake Music, a social justice and music liberation organization. In 2023, she was on SF Playhouse ‘Nollywood Dreams’ creative team. Oruche was a Dance/USA Artist Fellow, Kikwetu Honors Awardee, a NYFA Immigrant Artist Fellow, and YBCA 100 Honoree, and has received awards from Creative Work Fund, MAP Fund, Kenneth Rainin Foundation, and California Arts Council. Her work has been featured in BBC Africa, Goethe-Institut, Fjord Review, Coal City University-Enugu, and Oakland Museum of California.
Making a Mixtape for the Dead & Gone: grief circle & creative writing workshop
Making a Mixtape for the Dead & Gone
Grief Circle & Creative Writing Workshop for people of African descent (who have lost a parent, child, or sibling). with Nkeiruka Oruche & Michael French
Sunday, July 20, 2025
10:00 AM 1:00 PM
Online (via Zoom)
Free (Donations accepted)
Limited spots. Please register to receive attendance info
Co-facilitated by Nkeiruka and collaborator Micheal French this interactive workshop will explore our personal connections with death and using creativity as a tool to support our grief and commemoration. The session will feature an introduction/context about this project, participants sharing their personal experiences, and guided creative writing activity inspired by the project.
This workshop is part Nkeiruka Oruche’s ‘Obi gbawara’m//My Heart Shattered or What happens after I die?’ (OGB), researching and documenting traditions of death and grief in Igbo culture, and the African diaspora.
About Michael French
MICHAEL FRENCH is a director, writer, actor, and inventor of brilliant things, originally from London, England. In an ideal world he would be living in Morocco, have another place in Barcelona, spend three months of the year in Ghana, and have a cabin in the woods where he would go to write. He would meditate every day, practice Tai Chi three times a week, eat Indian food every Sunday, and be fit enough to run a marathon if he suddenly feels so inspired. Mr. French is currently writing his first collection of short stories entitled, 'Babble.'
Afro Urban Society/Sufferhead Academy
Afro Urban Society is a creative community of brilliant artists and culture workers dedicated to celebrating the unique expressions of Urban Africans through performance and community activism. Through original and curated arts & event production, popular arts education and community engagement we create spaces for diverse African stories. Our project, Sufferhead Academy is a series of creative and artistic industry workshops for the culture.
![From The Personal To The Public: Writing Workshop [Online]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6784861fafa23d688ef51461/1764649530669-GVYRF61QZZPD1OUCBGBN/Final%2BDraft%2BWriting%2Bworkshop%2Bimage.webp)
From The Personal To The Public: Writing Workshop [Online]
Afro Urban Society’s Sufferhead Academy presents
From The Personal To The Public: Writing Workshop for People of African Descent with Michael French
Saturdays: Sep 7 - Oct 5, 2024
10 AM - 12PM PDT
Online (via Zoom)
Sliding Scale $0 to $350 for the 5 class (please pay what you can, and consider paying more to support those who aren’t able to do this at all. If you need need a $0 registration please email info@afrourbansociety.com)
Limited to 12 Spots for the Workshop
For accessibility info and needs please email info@afrourbansociety.com
From the Personal to the Public
All writing is personal, all writing is private, so how can you take your experiences and ideas and turn them into writing that has meaning, beauty and truth for someone else? “From the Personal to the Public” is a five-week writing intensive where you will learn how to express your truth, weave your words into worlds, and how to capture the emotions of readers other than yourself. In an environment that is highly supportive and non-judgmental, using writing prompts and exercises, journaling, brainstorming, as well as reading, listening, and learning from some of the great writers of our time, “From the Personal to the Public” will help you develop your creative voice and what it means to write with purpose. Whether you write fiction, poetry, spoken word, screenplays, or I-don’t-know-what-this-is-but-I-like-it, understanding how to use your creative voice is vital to being heard. Writing is as much about how you write as it is what you write, so say what needs to be said and add your voice to the cultural conversation.
* Courage is a requirement.
About Michael French
MICHAEL FRENCH is a director, writer, actor, and inventor of brilliant things, originally from London, England. In an ideal world he would be living in Morocco, have another place in Barcelona, spend three months of the year in Ghana, and have a cabin in the woods where he would go to write. He would meditate every day, practice Tai Chi three times a week, eat Indian food every Sunday, and be fit enough to run a marathon if he suddenly feels so inspired. Mr. French is currently writing his first collection of short stories entitled, 'Babble.'
Afro Urban Society/Sufferhead Academy
Afro Urban Society is a creative community of brilliant artists and culture workers dedicated to celebrating the unique expressions of Urban Africans through performance and community activism. Through original and curated arts & event production, popular arts education and community engagement we create spaces for diverse African stories. Our project, Sufferhead Academy is a series of creative and artistic industry workshops for the culture.