In 2019, Stormzy’s #MerkyBooks announced a prize for new writers aged 16-30 to ‘promote the stories that aren’t being heard’, including fiction, non-fiction and poetry. “Taking Up Space: The Black Girls’ Manifesto for Change”, a book by Chelsea Kwakye and Ore Ogunbiyi was one of the beneficiaries of the fund. An excellent book on black women undergraduate students’ experience of university in Britain, Cambridge in particular. From pre-application anxiety, the years of study and post-graduation expectations, the chronology of this collection of essays perfectly captures and articulates the challenges of black women throughout their studies and how the actors they meet along the way may help or hinder. The book not only champions taking up space, whether in society or on a shelf, as an act of resistance, but also as an absolute necessity as opposed to a passing trend.
Bookseller reported that Sid Gentle Films, producers of “Killing Eve” won the TV rights to Taking Up Space. The deal was done by Emily Hayward Whitlock at the Artists Partnership on behalf of Carrie Plitt at Felicity Bryan Associates. “We are delighted to be working on this extraordinary manifesto for hope with Chelsea and Ore. The world they illuminate is full of potential for creating bold and breakthrough characters in a setting few have seen. This is really exciting.”, the production house put in their statement.
According to the authors, Ore and Chelsea: “We are so incredibly excited to be working with Sid Gentle Films. They have a strong understanding of the core themes of Taking Up Space and are committed to bringing them to life on screen. This is a real dream come true”.
