Tag Archives: Taking Up Space: The Black Girl’s Manifesto for Change

Taking Up Space to be adapted for TV

Writers Ore Ogunbiyi and Chelsea Kwakye

A book chronicling two young black women’s lives at Cambridge University in the UK is to be adapted into a TV series by Killing Eve prodco Sid Gentle Films.

Taking Up Space: The Black Girl’s Manifesto for Change, a book from Nigerian-British writer Ore Ogunbiyi and Ghanaian-British author Chelsea Kwakye published last year, will form the basis of the TV series.

The book recounts the experiences of undergraduate black women at the famed university and the challenges they encounter throughout their studies. The book not only champions taking up space, whether in society or on a bookshelf, as an act of resistance but also as an absolute necessity as opposed to a passing trend.

The authors said in a statement: “We are so incredibly excited to be working with Sid Gentle Films. They have a strong understanding of the core themes of Taking Up Space and are committed to bringing them to life on screen. This is a real dream come true.”

The London-based production house said: “We are delighted to be working on this extraordinary manifesto for hope with Chelsea and Ore. The world they illuminate is full of potential for creating bold and breakthrough characters in a setting few have seen. This is really exciting.”

Published by Merky Books, musician Stormzy’s publishing imprint, the book benefitted from an initiative for new writers aged 16 to 30 to promote the stories that aren’t being heard. The release date of the TV adaptation is yet to be announced.

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