Writer, researcher and maker.

Website:
jcniala.com

Twitter:
twitter.com/jcniala

Instagram:
instagram.com/jcniala

Writing

JC is currently working on her first nature writing book A Loveliness of Ladybirds which was shortlisted for the Nan Shepherd Prize in 2019 and will be published by Little Toller in 2022. An essay from the book Field notes from an African anthropologist was awarded the Frank Allen Bullock Creative Writing Prize 2020 from St. Catherine’s College, University of Oxford. You can read a version of the essay in The Clearing here. In 2017, her novel A Town Like Me was long listed for the MsLexia novel prize. JC also enjoys working across genres combining her poetry with drama and storytelling that she performs in non-traditional settings. JC first started writing by keeping a diary from the age of 5, these later went on to be made into a radio programme called Messages to Myself and were aired on BBC Radio 4. She also made video diaries which were screened on different TV networks around the world and was the beginning of her work with urban refugees. In 2015 her film Wazi? FM, which was a continuation of this work, won the Golden Dhow for best picture at Zanzibar International Film Festival. It was also given an EU Award for promoting peace and cultural understanding.

Urban Gardening

JC is a third year anthropology doctoral researcher at St. Catherine’s College, University of Oxford. She researches allotmenteering and guerrilla gardening. Her current project is 1918 Allotment where she is recreating a 1918 style allotment plot using open pollinated non hybrid heritage seeds from the era. You can read more about her work here.

African History

JC’s work examines the lives of African peoples in global contexts. She has researched African soldiers in WW1, Afrikan scholars who studied at the University of Oxford and African women who successfully resisted colonialism. She launched the Afro Historyscapes podcast in 2021- its a ten episode podcast series that gives a fresh perspective on African history by telling stories through objects at the Horniman Museum and Gardens in South London. You can find out more about it here.