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L'UNICA PERSONA NERA NELLA STANZA

Corpi che contano

Percepire il proprio corpo, prenderne coscienza, mapparne le cicatrici e le fratture, provando a ricordarsi di quando da bambini si andava in bicicletta o si nuotava in piscina, confrontando la propria esperienza limitata con quella dei grandi atleti che hanno fatto delle loro abilità fisiche unaprofessione, e servirsi di questa nuova consapevolezza per scardinare pregiudizi di razza, genere e classe.

Partendo da questa urgenza, Nadeesha Uyangoda indaga il tema complesso del rapporto tra corpo e pratica sportiva, alternando il racconto autobiografico alla narrazione di alcuni momenti storici chiave, in cui lo sport – strumento di dominio politico e di egemonia culturale, ma anche grimaldello per abbattere muri e smontare falsi miti – ha contribuito in modo determinante a costruire le nostre identità.

Il corpo dell’atleta – allenato, modificato, disciplinato, valutato e mercificato: reso un oggetto – diventa così un prezioso canovaccio su cui vengono incisi i segni della cultura e della biologia, «il confine ultimo tra individuo e società».

 

WRITER, podcaster, AUTHOR

Nadeesha Uyangoda

Nadeesha Uyangoda is a writer, podcaster and freelance author. Her stories have appeared, among others, in Al Jazeera English, The Telegraph, Vice Italy, Open Democracy. Currently she is a columnist for Internazionale magazine and a contributor for Italian newspapers La Repubblica and La Stampa.
 
Her debut non-fiction book, L’unica persona nera nella stanza [The only black person in the room] earned a spot on many prestigious award longlists and shortlists. She is the creator of the podcast Sulla Razza [About Race], sponsored by Juventus Football Club.
 
She was awarded a residency at Art Omi International Writers Program (Ghent, NY) in fall 2023.
 
She lives in Milan with her dog Artù and is represented by Elisa Beretta at The Italian Literary Agency.

L'UNICA PERSONA NERA NELLA STANZA

L’unica persona nera nella stanza

La razza è un concetto difficile da cogliere, pur non avendo fondamenti biologici produce grossi effetti nei rapporti sociali, professionali e sentimentali. La razza in Italia non si palesa fino a quando tu non sei l’unica persona nera in una stanza di bianchi. 

It was awarded:

 

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Other works

Children’s book

SCATOLINE is a series of essays for little humans. Each book is a word, each word is not explained, nor defined, but rather narrated.

Preface

White Tears/Brown Scars tells a charged story of white women’s active participation in campaigns of oppression. I wrote the preface to its Italian translation.

Reportage

For one-of-a-kind travel book The Passenger, I wrote a literary reportage about the Srilankan community in Milan and its ethnic microeconomy.

Short story

K is a literary magazine published by Linkiesta and directed by Italian writer Nadia Terranova. I wrote a short story on home for its 4th issue, themed Happiness.

Sulla Razza

I created  Sulla Razza  in April 2020, a podcast written and co-hosted with Nathasha Fernando and Maria Mancuso. It is powered by Juventus Football Club.

Sulla Razza  aims to translate into Italian words and expressions from the angloamerican culture —  BAME, colourism and fair skin privilege. 

Its first season was produced by Undermedia. Extra contents are available on Vice Italia. The second season is produced by One Podcast.

What I have been up to

SCUOLA HOLDEN

  • A course on writing about sport, in which I deliver two lessons with a focus on race
  • A course titled Instability: I deliver a series of lessons on writing about books

SCUOLA DEL LIBRO

A course on cultural journalism.

FELTRINELLI EDUCATION

Member of Feltrinelli Education’s advisory board. I delivered a course on writing about book — “Con le parole giuste. Imparare a scrivere di libri”.

BOOKPRIDE MILAN 2023

Book Pride is an Italian leading independent book fair. For its 7th edition I was the curator of a special section focusing on language, “Traiettorie linguistiche”.

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