Sound Affects #33: Elizabeth Alker, AFLO. The Poet & Helen Anahita Wilson

About

Sound Affects is a night of talks about music and subcultures, how sound affects us and how music changes the world. Hearing from writers, musicians, artists, superfans, photographers, filmmakers and everyday music lovers, we dive into personal stories, esoteric bands, fan communities, punk, pop, social change and much more. It's organised and hosted by journalist and documentary filmmaker Jak Hutchcraft.

Speakers:

Elizabeth Alker- Presenter for BBC Radio 3, where she hosts the experimental music show Unclassified and the week-day afternoon programme Classical Live. She was previously a presenter and a reporter for BBC 6 Music and has written, presented and produced numerous arts and culture documentaries for BBC Radio. She is currently the curator and host of a series of cross-genre concerts at the Southbank Centre with the BBC Concert Orchestra. Everything We Do Is Music is published by Faber & Faber and is her first book.

Helen Anahita Wilson- Sound artist, composer and artistic researcher. She won the Oram award this year and her compositional practice brings together her research in South Asian musics, especially Karnatak rhythmic theories, with experiments in sonic life writing: how to share biographical stories through sound. Her new album is coming out on Halloween and is made entirely from edible, hallucinogenic, and deadly species within the Nightshade (Solanaceae) plant family.

AFLO. The Poet- Spoken word artist, activist and academic who uses poetry as a vehicle to disrupt the status quo and inspire social change. With a bold voice rooted in lived experience, AFLO. uses poetry as a tool for resistance, healing, and radical honesty. Her performances explore themes of race, identity, mental health, and social justice. She is the co-founder of a local anti-racist organisation, BARCO (Black Anti-Racism Community Organisation) and her interdisciplinary approach fuses poetry with activism, education, and collective care. AFLO. has shared her voice at a range of venues, from grassroots community spaces to national stages, including the magical fields of Glastonbury and the famous 'red dot' for her very own Tedx Talk.