This essay was the outcome of the British Council funded Here and Now residency, and was published in Márọkọ, the journal of the Lagos International Poetry Festival 2023.
About the residency; Six mid-career/established writers from Scotland and West Africa were given the space and resources to create new work during two cross-cultural residencies in the Scottish Highlands and in Ghana. Writers took part in a supporting digital programme of connection, which expanded the scope of the residencies and facilitated the production of an anthology of Scottish and West African literature.

The writers spent one month at Moniack Mhor Writers’ Centre just outside Inverness, and one month at LOATAD, the Library of Africa and the African Diaspora in Accra, Ghana. During these residencies, participants connected with local communities, including facilitating workshops at a young person's writing festival in Inverness, a night of readings at the Pier Arts Centre in Orkney, and participation in the Pa Gym! literary festival in Ghana as well as the Lagos International Poetry Festival. This cross-genre work was launched at a hybrid live/online performance event at LIPFest, the Lagos International Poetry Festival.