BreakTheBias Through Storytelling will be held in Broadstairs as part of a programme to mark International Women’s Day.
The event, also part of Power of Women fringe festival, takes place on March 10 at Holy Trinity Church Hall.
Hosted by Broadstairs writer, marketing director and former magazine boss Madeleine White, the aim is to explore how voice, place and connection all set our idea of what being a woman means in today’s world through a variety of media.
Madeleine will be ‘In Conversation’ with a stellar cast of writers and performers: Maggie Harris, Laure Meloy, Anne Stairmand, Setareh Franklin and Jill Smith.
The event will be supporting Anne Stairmand’s Refuge in Literacy, a charity committed to helping those in domestic violence refuges to improve literacy life chances.
Anne is a successful children’s book author and is working with many authors and refuges across the UK. Books will be donated to Oasis Domestic Abuse Service CEO Deborah Cartwright on the night. Anne Stairmand will also be speaking.
Madeleine published her debut novel Mother of Floods in 2020. The book follows the tradition of writers such as Margaret Atwood – The Handmaiden’s Tale – and Paulo Coehlo -The Alchemist – exploring what it means to be human in the 21st century and how people develop cultural, spiritual and digital identities.
Mum-of-three Madeleine is a former freelance journalist whose first big article was for the Evening Standard in the 90s looking at how her family dealt with her father’s bi polar disorder. The article coincided with the release of the Robert de Niro film looking at the topic, Mr Jones.
The former Clarendon grammar student later turned to teaching and was the brains behind Oi! Magazine produced for and by young people and launched with Marlowe Academy. The magazine went national as So! in 2009. She later worked on Nina-Iraq.com magazine- launched with world bank – for women in Iraq.
The magazines were all platforms to give disenfranchised communities a voice.
Madeleine said: ““I am a storyteller who has, over the last few years, been focusing on building and strengthening communities in emerging markets. I have a particular interest in supporting women’s networks.
“Mother of Floods is a shift in direction, one in which I have turned my attention to trying to win hearts and minds through fiction. The power of stories, both true and fictional, is enormous in shifting opinions and opening us up.
“Although I am still working in other areas, I have come to believe sometimes fiction is far more powerful than factual journalism and reporting in terms of getting to the truth of a situation.”
Book a place at the event here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/storytelling-breakthebias-with-mother-of-floods-author-madeleine-f-white-tickets-256691239407
