Achiro P. Olwoch, Playwright/Novelist/Filmmaker

Westbeth: An Experience

I have always been a writer who thrives and churns out work when I am at a residency. Being a resident at Westbeth—albeit as an artist at risk in residence, meaning it is not a permanent residence—has brought out the best in me.

I do not know if it is just the building or the vibes within the building’s walls, but since the first day I stepped into Westbeth, my creative juices have been on overdrive. I started my residence on September 10, 2021, and since then, I have started and completed a book, and I am almost done with the first draft of a new feature screenplay. “Sex or Slave” is a story that I am developing and exploring both in prose and as a feature film. This story is set in 1940s Uganda during colonialism, but is very relevant today as it explores the themes of race, sexuality, and inequality through the eyes of a 14-year-old. She has been given away to her parents’ master and mistress to bear them children, and she falls in love and has a relationship with her white mistress. She goes on to bear the couple five mixed-race children, who later are left for her to raise in colonial Uganda.

Being at Westbeth for me is really a breath of fresh air. I am breaking the shackles of self- censorship after leaving my home country where subjects of sexuality are taboo unless you are speaking against it. It is one thing to be around writers. It is quite another thing to be surrounded by artists of all forms. Even though the pandemic has slowed events down—attending a book reading here, and a gallery showing there, watching dancers be boneless and musicians immerse themselves in song, not forgetting the amazing sculptors and the works on every floor—being at Westbeth is not just being a resident, for me it is an experience.