SuAndi in her own voice: new audio resource now live
A full audio version of The Mixed Museum's SussedBlackWoman digital resource is now live, offering new learning opportunities for all. Launched in July 2024, the resource explores the life and work of Manchester-based writer, poet, arts practitioner, and Royal Society of Literature Benson Medal recipient SuAndi in her own words. Thanks to additional funding from the Association of Independent Museums, visitors can now also hear SuAndi tell her story directly.
SussedBlackWoman now available to audio learners
An audio version of the SussedBlackWoman digital resource is now live, featuring recordings from writer, poet and arts practitioner SuAndi, with contributions from The Mixed Museum’s Director, Dr Chamion Caballero.
This new way of accessing the resource was made possible by a ‘New Stories, New Audiences’ enrichment grant from the Association of Independent Museums (AIM), which allowed the museum to respond to audience demand for more audio content.
SussedBlackWoman is an honest account of the life and work of SuAndi in her own words. SuAndi was born in Manchester to a Liverpool Irish mother and Nigerian Ijaw father, and the resource expands ideas about the histories of British mixed race families beyond the usual focus on London, Liverpool and Cardiff. Manchester has a historical connection to Africa through the cotton trade, along with a well-established community of interracial families like SuAndi’s that pre-date the arrival of the Empire Windrush in 1948.
Since its launch in July 2024, the SussedBlackWoman digital resource has been lauded for its honest, hard-hitting and humorous retelling of SuAndi’s journey in the arts. Visitors have particularly enjoyed hearing SuAndi’s voice in the audio clips, and the new audio version offers an even deeper opportunity to engage with her storytelling.
Making SussedBlackWoman more accessible
The last few years have seen a new wave of recognition for SuAndi’s contributions to literature and the arts. In 2023, she received Manchester City of Culture’s Special Recognition Award, followed in July 2024 by being appointed an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (RSL) and awarded the RSL’s Benson Medal for meritorious works in poetry, fiction, history and belles-lettres. The audio version allows both existing and new readers to delve more deeply into SuAndi’s life and work.
Dr Caballero said: “We know that audio is highly valued by Gen Z and also knew that we wanted to make the resource as accessible as possible to visitors who are visually impaired. The enrichment grant allowed us to undertake a full audio recording of the resource, and we couldn’t be more pleased.”
The museum was supported by Maria Oshodi, Director of Extant, the UK’s leading performing arts company focused on visual impairment, to ensure that the recordings were appropriately designed and integrated for accessibility. Oshodi is a longstanding member of the National Black Arts Alliance (NBAA). Raz Ullah continued production of SuAndi and Dr Caballero’s studio recordings which took place in Manchester.
Dr Caballero added: “This project has made us realise that, as a museum, we are only at the beginning of our accessibility journey, but we now have a better understanding and foundation to work from.”
Rich learning opportunities for A-level students studying The Story of ‘M’
SuAndi’s monodrama The Story of ‘M’ is now an option on the Edexcel A level English Literature syllabus. So as well as being of interest to a general audience, the digital resource also offers rich learning opportunities for students, teachers and parents looking for additional support around the book’s themes and historical context.
The Mixed Museum is grateful to AIM’s New Stories, New Audiences (NSNA) programme, which is supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, for funding both the resource and additional audio via the NSNA enrichment fund.
Learn more
Visit the SussedBlackWoman digital resource, in which the audio version is embedded
Read about SuAndi’s RSL Benson Medal, following in the footsteps of J.R.R. Tolkien, Wole Soyinka and Margaret Busby
Find out about the origins of the SussedBlackWoman project