Son[i]a #431

Lola Olufemi (b. London, 1996) is a feminist writer, organiser, and thinker whose work is grounded in a commitment to collective liberation, anti-capitalism, abolition, and feminist ethics as lived practice. Her political and creative work has been shaped by over a decade of feminist activism—both within institutions and far beyond them. She writes across genres, blending essay, polemic, and experimentation to explore how creative practice—particularly literature and archival materials—can reshape our relationship to power and time, functioning as tools for social transformation and political imagination.

Central to her work is the idea that history is not closed—that memory, imagination, and action must be held together in struggle. She engages the imagination not as a utopian escape from reality, but as a method for reshaping social life in the present. Whether organising against the carceral state, convening reading groups, or crafting literary polemics, Olufemi’s practice insists on relation, collectivity, and the radical possibilities of refusal. 

In this podcast, Lola Olufemi invites us to embrace non-linearity, atemporal connections, and fragmentation—both in our organising and in how we write and research. She reflects on feminist legacies, the need to think beyond binaries of success and failure, and how imagination is not a luxury but a political necessity. We also explore the ethics of solidarity, the material conditions of care, and the radical power of listening—to each other, to the past, and to the unheard.

With the support of:

In collaboration with:

_{Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.}