JC Niala is a writer, poet and storyteller. Works include the play
The Strong Room
' shortlisted by

Wole Soyinka Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka (Yoruba: ''Akínwándé Olúwọlé Babátúndé Ṣóyíinká''; born 13 July 1934), known as Wole Soyinka (), is a Nigerian playwright, novelist, poet, and essayist in the English language. He was awarded t ...

in BBC Africa Performance 2010, the film ''Wazi?FM'' Winner Best Feature Film Zanzibar International Film Festival 2015, the 2013 film '' Something Necessary'' and the play ''Unsettled''

Education and career

Niala is an Honorary Research Fellow at the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded i ...

. She is also a DPhil student at St Catherine's College, Oxford. Her work aims to empower women. She was a researcher and producer for th
Women in Oxford's History
Podcast Series. Her article

, an African perspective, has been translated into more than 20 languages and has been used as a training tool by La Leche League and The World Alliance for Breast Feeding. Her parenting articles have been used as resources in a number of books. Niala's work has been staged at

The Africa Centre, London The Africa Centre, London was founded in 1964 at 38 King Street, Covent Garden, where over the years it held many art exhibitions, conferences, lectures, and a variety of cultural events, as well as housing a gallery, meeting halls, restaurant, ...

, at the

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery located in London. It houses the United Kingdom's national collection of international modern and contemporary art, and forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is ...

and to celebrate World Theatre Day in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. She performs stories in different countries including at the Hay Festival, in Kenya and the UK. Her films have been shown at film festivals around the world including

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

Zanzibar International Film Festival The Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF), also known as Festival of the Dhow Countries, is an annual film festival held in Zanzibar, Tanzania and one of the largest cultural events in East Africa. ZIFF is a non-governmental organization esta ...

Rotterdam Film Festival The International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) is an annual film festival held at the end of January in various locations in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Since its foundation in 1972, it has maintained a focus on independent and experimental fi ...

among others. When she was 17 she filmed, by herself a documentary entitled ''In and Out of Africa'' that was aired in 1993 on

BBC 2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

as part of their Teenage Diaries Series. Her diaries were aired on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

as part of the series ''Messages to Myself'', where she was the youngest participant in the programme.

Degrees

* BSc in Psychology from

University of Sheffield , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

* BSc in Osteopathic Medicine from

British College of Osteopathic Medicine The British College of Osteopathic Medicine (also known as BCOM) is an educational organisation based in London. It was one of the first colleges to offer degree-level and Master's degree, master's-level study in osteopathy. The College's Principa ...

* MSt in Creative Writing from

Kellogg College Kellogg College is a graduate-only constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1990 as Rewley House, Kellogg is the university's 36th college and the largest by number of students. It hosts research centres including ...

, University of Oxford

Works

* 2010: ''The Strong Room'' (writer) * 2011: ''A Kenyan Christmas'' (writer) * 2012: ''Cows are too Big to Eat'' (editor) * 2012: ''Why the Cheetah Hunts at Night'' (writer) * 20''13: Something Necessary (co-wr''iter) * 2014: B''aby Elephant Safari'' (writer) * 2014: Beyond Motherhood: ''A Guide to Being a Great Working Mother while Living Your Dream'' (writer) * 2015'': Wazi? FM'' (screenwriter) * 2016: A Wordly War: Battle Experiences through the Eyes of African Cultures (writer/producer) * 2017: ''A Candid Handbook For Women Doing Business In Kenya'' (co-writer) * 2019: ''Unsettled'' (writer)

Awards

* 2010: BBC Africa Performance - Shortlist * 2015: Zanzibar International Film Festival - Best Feature Film * 2015: European African Film Festivals Award - Best African Film * 2016: The Oxford Research Centre for the Humanities, University of Oxford - WWI Research Competition - First runner-up * 2017: Kellogg College Community Engagement and Academic Merit Award

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Niala, J.C. Kenyan poets Kenyan women poets Alumni of Kellogg College, Oxford