A London-based author fighting for community spaces has had a new library named after in her hometown of Woolwich, south east London.
The Woolwich front room features a library inside that is now named after 30 year old Black-British Caribbean writer Shani Akilah.
This was particularly momentous as Akilah believes attending a community book event hosted by Bernardine Evaristo in 2019 contributed to her leaving her corporate career in 2022 and publishing her first book, For Such a Time as This, in June 2024.
Akilah said: “It’s because of community spaces that I’m here.”
After Evaristo’s event, Akilah built a following on Instagram from sharing her passion for reading thus becoming a de facto ‘bookstagrammer’ and is now a writer in her own right.
For Such a Time as This is a collection of short stories about a group of young, Black British friends navigating their way through the ups and downs of modern London life.
Evaristo described Akilah as a glittering new voice in the literary firmament.
Akilah’s passion for community runs deep as she previously ran Nyah Network, a book club for black women, for six years and in October 2023, Akilah co-founded The Orange Room Collective with her sister Rasheeda Melesse.
The Orange Room Collective, an open mic night that places emphasis on Black-British creatives, has been extremely successful in bringing community together and recently partnered with The Southbank Centre in October 2024 to celebrate their first birthday.
Akilah added: “It’s been deeply saddening to witness the decline of community spaces, especially given the immense impact they’ve had – not only on my life but also on my writing journey.”
It comes as Foundation For Future London reported that local authority-run community space closures are now outpacing new openings in some London boroughs.
The research 46 community spaces permanently shut down between 2018-2023, nearly 10 a year.
However, as a borough, Greenwich is making progress as it only closed four spaces but opened 10 new spaces between 2018-2023.
Sarah Nelson, CEO at Foundation for Future London said: “This trend is particularly worrisome.
“These findings reinforce the need for greater investment to develop and protect vital community spaces across London [as they] are integral to fostering equal access to vibrant and supportive environments.”
The Department for Culture, Media and Sports announced on 17th December that a new independent review of Arts Council England will launch in the new year.
Culture secretary Lisa Nandy said: “For too long only the privileged few in select parts of the country have been able to have access to high-quality arts or to believe a career within them was possible.
“Arts and culture must be for everyone, everywhere.”
Featured image and all images used by Derrick Mensah
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