Thinking Aloud, Thinking Together Phil Mullen in conversation with Afua Hirsch

In Partnership with Skein Press

What does it mean to be Black in Ireland and Britain today? Join Phil Mullen, author and academic, and Afua Hirsch, journalist, broadcaster and bestselling author of Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging as they challenge and unravel the harmful legacy of erasure of the Black community in the history and culture of both countries. This conversation is the first in a new Skein series of cross-disciplinary discussions, Thinking Aloud, Thinking Together, touching on current points of connection and concern.

This event takes place in The Chapel in the North Range of IMMA Venues.

Kindly supported by The Rowan Trust.

Dr Phil Mullen was born in Dublin and grew up in the Irish industrial school system. Returning to education in her 20s, she graduated in English and Philosophy from Trinity College Dublin. Her M.Phil. in Women’s Studies analysed the role of women as perpetrators of violence during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. After an 18-year gap to raise a family, she returned to Trinity College where she completed her PhD as a Government of Ireland PhD scholar. She examined the racist and racialised aspects of how Black mixed African-Irish women, who grew up in the Irish institutional care system without families, construct their identity. Phil is currently Assistant Professor of Black Studies at Trinity College and lives in Dublin with her family.

Afua Hirsch is the founder of Born In Me, which makes premium scripted and unscripted TV and film, including Africa Rising, an ongoing BBC series exploring the art and culture of African countries. She hosts Legacy, an ongoing Apple top 3 global podcast hit for Wondery and Amazon Music currently in its twentieth season. She is also a bestselling author of four books including the award-winning Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging (2018) and Decolonising My Body, A Radical Exploration of Rituals and Beauty (2023). A journalist for more than twenty years, she is a former Guardian correspondent, associate editor of British and is a professor of journalism at the University of Southern California.

The Skein Press Conversations Series, Thinking Aloud, Thinking Together, is supported by MoLI.