PRESS RELEASE – Tuesday 5 February 2019 IMAGES CAN BE DOWNLOADED HERE Website / Twitter / Instagram Facebook

WOW London 2019

● WOW LONDON 2019 BRINGS THE WOW COMMUNITY TOGETHER TO ASK ‘WHAT NOW?’ AND ‘WHAT NEXT?’ IN AN UNMISSABLE TWO-DAY PROGRAMME

● CELEBRATING RECENT ACHIEVEMENTS, EACH DAY WILL ALSO TAKE A FRANK LOOK AT ONGOING EQUALITY ISSUES IN DIALOGUE WITH A RANGE OF INSPIRING SPEAKERS

WOW – Women of the World – has announced two major events across International Women’s Day 2019 to address the state of today. On Friday 8 March in What Now? looks at the here and now. From politics to financial empowerment, from toxic masculinity to the intersection of sexism, racism and homophobia here are the subjects that matter most collated from WOW Thinkins around the world. Annie Lennox leads a conversation on Global Feminism, and how local activism can turn into international solidarity; Julia Gillard, the first woman Prime Minister of Australia, talks about resilience and her mission to dispel the myths about female leadership, and we put money high on the agenda with a challenge to talk more about our personal finances – in particular, our pensions. Other speakers include: Gina Miller, the woman who successfully challenged the UK government's authority to trigger Article 50; Rizzle Kicks musician and actor Jordan Stephens on the effects of toxic masculinity; Scarlett Curtis, curator of Feminists Don’t Wear Pink (and Other Lies); Maisie Williams (Game of Thrones), actor and co-creator of daisie, a new online community for creative collaboration; stand-up comedian Rosie Jones; cellist and singer Ayanna Witter-Johnson as well as spoken word from some of the UK's best established and up and coming poets. On Saturday 9 March we ask What’s Next?, and present some of the artists, thinkers, and activists who are bringing new thinking and ideas that will transform the world. Speakers include ; model and activist Munroe Bergdorf; author of Eve Was Shamed: How British Justice is Failing Women Helena Kennedy QC ; bestselling author Reshma Saujani (Founder of Girls Who Code)and Jenny Sealey MBE (Graeae Theatre Company) who will be launching ‘Where is my Vagina’, a new initiative born out of conversations with her friends about sex and aging. WOW will also be in conversation with Lily Allen in the wake of her book My Thoughts Exactly.

What Next? also invites a group of First Nations and Indigenous women to discuss how women leaders are practising a new model of global leadership in the face of colonial power and its ongoing legacies. Speakers will include Dr Sandra Phillips (Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research, University of Technology Sydney) and Mayor Vonda Malone, the first female mayor of Torres Shire Council with 22 years’ experience with the Australian government, and a Torres Strait Islander born and raised on Thursday Island.

What Now? and What Next? is every feminist’s dream double bill. A one-off event led by WOW’s founder Jude Kelly, it marks the launch of The WOW Foundation, an independent charitable organisation with national and global reach. WOW is preparing major festivals to celebrate its tenth birthday in 2020.

WHAT NOW? and WHAT NEXT? are a major part of the previously announced WOW London line up including: legendary activist and writer Angela Davis in conversation, award- winning journalist and author Naomi Klein speaking to Jude Kelly; the launch of major new international anthology New Daughters of Africa edited by Margaret Busby; comedy from ; a world premiere from Women’s Equality Party co-founder Catherine Mayer; Bestselling author, blogger and campaigner Chidera Eggerue, aka The Slumflower.

WOW London takes place by arrangement with Southbank Centre.

-ENDS-

For further information please contact Maisie Lawrence at The Corner Shop PR on 020 7831 7657

LISTINGS

WHAT NOW? Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre Friday 8 March, 2pm Approx run time 210 minutes

Consider the ideas that matter to women in an event led by Jude Kelly, founder of WOW – Women of the World, with Annie Lennox, Gina Miller, Julia Gillard and more.

From the toughest realities many women and girls face every day, to the greatest triumphs, we present an afternoon of stories and performances designed to blow your mind and change your world view, featuring some of the best speakers, performers, activists and thinkers in the field. https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/133399-wow-what-now-2019

WHAT NEXT? Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre Saturday 9 March, 2pm Approx run time 210 minutes In an age of hyperconnectivity, extreme ideas and political turmoil, what’s in store for the future of gender equality? Hear from Sandi Toksvig, Munroe Bergdorf, Lily Allen and more.

Hear from the women helping us imagine an equal world – from those on the frontlines of global movements to girls and young women changing our world for the better. https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/133411-wow-what-next-2019 Tickets are on sale A number of events will be British Sign Language - details will be confirmed.

Southbank Centre Belvedere Road London SE1 8XX

NOTES TO EDITORS WOW – Women of the World The WOW Foundation was created by Jude Kelly CBE in 2018 to run the global movement that is WOW - Women of the World Festivals. The Festivals began in the UK in 2010, launched by Kelly at Southbank Centre London, where she was Artistic Director, to celebrate women and girls, taking a frank look at what prevents them from achieving their potential, raising awareness globally of the issues they face, and discussing solutions together.

To date, WOW has reached over 2 million people in 17 countries on 5 continents with more than 60 festivals including in Australia, Brazil, China, Egypt, Finland, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Somaliland, the UK and the USA. In 2018 WOW has been in Rio, Cardiff, Bradford, Baltimore, London, Exeter, Norwich and Perth, with events in Karachi, Beijing still to come as well as London, New York, Baltimore, Dhaka, Atlanta, China and more across 2019 and 2020. Over the last nine years the Festivals have developed a reputation as a space for world renowned artists, activists, thinkers and performers including Angela Davies, Malala Yousafzai, Annie Lennox, Patrick Stewart, Baroness Doreen Lawrence and Salma Hayek, to come and participate, alongside thousands of women and girls who don't have public profiles but are doing amazing things. WOW provides platforms for people of all kinds, changes attitudes, brings communities together and provides a unique space for people to work together towards gender equality in their own communities. One example of the impact the festival has came in 2015, with the founding of the Women’s Equality Party by Sandi Toksvig and Catherine Mayer. In 2018 Kelly left the Southbank Centre to run the WOW Foundation full time as an independent organisation working to build, convene and sustain a global movement that believes a gender equal world is possible and desirable through festivals and empowering women and girls. The unique festival model creates numerous pathways for participants to take part in WOW projects, amplify their own causes, or start new initiatives which have wide impact on communities. It is the biggest, most comprehensive and most significant festival dedicated to presenting work by women and promoting equality for women and girls. WOW London takes place by arrangement with Southbank Centre.

Southbank Centre is the UK’s largest arts centre, occupying a 17 acre site that sits in the midst of London’s most vibrant cultural quarter on the South Bank of the Thames. The site has an extraordinary creative and architectural history stretching back to the 1951 Festival of Britain. Southbank Centre is home to the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room and Hayward Gallery as well as the National Poetry Library and the Arts Council Collection. For further information please visit www.southbankcentre.co.uk.