V-Talk! THE LAST CALL

Dear Ladies,

Are you ready for tomorrow (5/10/13)? Are you looking forward to this? Are you excited? I can't wait to see you all there! SIXSTEEN LADIES have already booked their places!!! If you would like to join us do not be shy - just drop me an email malena.korytkowska@gmail.com

Just to remind you that the workshop starts at 11am at the function room in Duffy's Bar (8 Pocklingtons Walk, LE1 6BU). All details are available here

All activities planned are tailored for you!
I also have just baked the cakes for you - they smell fantastic - so I have a very merry feeling :) And I believe that Duffy's Bar is ready with the special V-Lunch-Menu (please remember that although the workshop, tea, coffee and cakes are free of charge lunch is not included).

If you have any questions or any problems please do not hesitate to contact me here or on my mobile: 07576531511.

See you very, very soon! Oh, I'm so excited!!!

Magda ({})

V-Talk! AGENDA

Now you know, that you CAN'T miss this out!!! :)

What When Where

V-Talk! The Vagina Monologues workshop. On the 5th October 2013; 11am-5pm. Duffy’s Bar, 8 Pocklingtons Walk, LE1 6BU, Leicester.

Workshop is based on “The Vagina Monologues” by Eve Ensler. We will talk about the play – although you don’t need to read it before – we will read the fragments together! There will be a couple of activities which will show us how the image of women is shown and seen publicly. We will discuss whether we are happy with these images.

AGENDA – V-Talk! The Vagina Monologues workshop

TIME	ACTIVITY
11:00-11:20	COFFEE, welcome, general information, overview, breaking the ice.
11:20-11:45	Introduction to “The Vagina Monologues” and V-Day.
11:45-12:15	Reading + Discussion.
12:15-12:45	“If it talked what would it say?” – Group exercise.
12:45-13:15	LUNCH* – special V-Menu.
13:15-13:30	Introduction to market research.
13:30-14:30	Market research activity.
14:30-14:45	COFFEE BREAK
14:45-15:45	Image of femininity in our society - Group activity + Discussion.
15:45-16:00	COFFEE BREAK
16:00-16:30	V-Day Leicester – what WE can do.
16:30-17:00	Summary & Feedback.

*Although the workshop is free of charge lunch is not included. Tea, coffee and home baked cakes (vegan and gluten free options available!) will be provided for free. We highly recommend the delicious lunch served by Duffy’s Bar (remember that you have to pay for it). The special V-Menu will be available at Duffy’s Bar on the day – you can’t miss this offer guarantee!!! :)

Vagina goes public!

If you missed the V-interview which was on BBC Radio Leicester on Saturday the 28th of September, or if you want to listen to this again, you can access this here (from 1hr 08mins 26sec).

Enjoy :)

V-Talk! on BBC Radio Leicester

Only 9 days to go! Are you so excited as I am?

Just to let you know that I'm going to be on BBC Radio Leicester this Saturday (28/09/13) morning, 10:10am, to talk a little bit about the workshop, the V-Day movement and The Vagina Monologues.

Please see what Jo Twist, a poet and activist from Leicester, said: ‘I met Magdalena when she was part of a workshop at last year’s Everybody's Reading festival, one that I helped run with Magnus Gestsson, that looked at how the mass media can be used as an inspiration for art and poetry. Since then I have been involved in Magdalena’s ongoing creative work and I’m … impressed. I’m sure that ‘V-Talk!’ will have a bigger impact than our workshop … it will be more inspiring …. It will create change.’

The V-Day activists from the USA are also keep their fingers crossed for us!

Remember that YOU ARE a core of this event and only TOGETHER we are able to make a difference. Many, many thanks for being part of this!

If you haven't sent your booking form yet please do this as quickly as possible to secure your place! For the booking form please contact me on malena.korytkowska@gmail.com The agenda with all details will be available at the beginning of next week.

Press Release

What When Where How to book a free place

V-Talk! The Vagina Monologues workshop. Part of global V-Day movement during this year’s Everybody’s Reading festival. On the 5th October 2013; 11am-5pm. Duffy’s Bar, 8 Pocklingtons Walk, LE1 6BU, Leicester. malena.korytkowska@gmail.com mobile: 07576531511

V-Day is a global movement to end violence against women and girls. It’s inspired by “The Vagina Monologues”, a play by Eve Ensler.

"V-Talk! The Vagina Monologues workshop" is based on this play and it is a prelude to bring the V-Day movement to Leicester.  The workshop is a space for women only. Participants are going to be reading selections from the play and then discussing them. We are going to conduct a couple of activities which explore how images of women are shown and seen publicly. And then we are going to talk about how these representations of us make us feel.

This workshop WILL start to make a difference!

Magdalena Korytkowska, organizer of the workshop, said:  “This play, as well as the V-Day movement which it inspired, helped me to discover exactly what being a woman means. I am not only proud now that I am a woman but what is more I enjoy being one. I would like to share this pride with other women who are ready to question the roles that society has placed them in.”

Jo Twist, a poet and activist from Leicester, said: ‘I met Magdalena when she was part of a workshop at last year’s festival, one that I helped run with Magnus Gestsson, that looked at how the mass media can be used as an inspiration for art and poetry. Since then I have been involved in Magdalena’s ongoing creative work and I’m … impressed. I’m sure that ‘V-Talk!’ will have a bigger impact than our workshop … it will be more inspiring …. It will create change.’

I painted my nails red... because my vagina asked me to do so!!!

I painted my nails red today and I thought: “It’s time to act!” It was the second time I’d painted them in the last year.

I looked around carefully, and my room’s tidiness made me happy. My last year hasn’t been the easiest one. The last two years haven’t been the easiest… to be honest, none of the years have been easy, but what happened just in this last year is more than enough to talk about now.  Back when it began I was in a mess… in a big mess. It had started when I quit my job. I wasn’t happy there… I wasn’t unhappy either, but the days had begun to be too hopeless to face. So I quit. And then I noticed that I wasn’t the same person I had been before. The woman full of energy and confidence had walked away, leaving me alone, thinking only that “I should be better”, that “I’m not good enough”. I had let someone make me sure “I couldn’t”, to make me think to myself that “I can’t”. That someone was, first of all, me…

The first time I painted my nails red was after a couple of months stuck sitting alone in my rented flat, on my second hand sofa, worrying about the future, longing for being useful and being absolutely unable to do anything about it. It was on Tuesday, 27th of September 2012. I woke up, slapped my face, dressed up in my favourite clothes… and painted my nails red… and then I went out. In the Central Lending Library Magnus Gestsson and Jo Twist were running a workshop as part of the Everybody’s Reading Festival 2012. When I reached the library I could only think about running away.  (Jo said to me a couple of months later than he had thought that I seemed to be very confident… how wrong can first impressions be?). I didn’t run away… I not only stayed at this workshop but I also took part in other Everybody’s Reading events. It was the turning point in my life - I can say so proudly.

The next months weren’t any easier – but they were better. I engaged with my life again. I joined groups and went to events and I enjoyed them. I met wonderful people and I started to work with them on different projects. Finally I found a job – a good job – a meaningful and useful job. And in the meantime someone lent me “The Vagina Monologues” by Eve Ensler… and it was another turning point.

When I sat down to read the play for the first time I was sure that it was nothing more than feminist propaganda. In my opinion, feminists often fight for their cause … their good cause … with the wrong weapons. But this book, as well as the V-Day movement which it inspired, helped me to discover exactly what being a woman means. For the first time in my life I’m not only proud that I’m a woman but what is more I enjoy being one. There is massive work still to be done – but I’m on the way to understanding myself better and respecting all of my needs.

I would like you, Ladies, to join me in this work on Saturday 5th of October, at Duffy’s Bar. I will be presenting a workshop based on “The Vagina Monologues” so we can bring the V-Day spirit to Leicester. It’s part of this year’s Everybody’s Reading Festival. We will talk about the play – although you don’t need to read it before – I’ll bring my copy! There will be a couple of activities which will show us how our image – the image of women  – is shown and seen publicly. We will discuss how happy we are with these images of us. We will start to build a new network together. This network, which will be part of the V-Day movement, WILL make a difference … to us, and to all who see us. 

I painted my nails red today… because my vagina asked me to do so… and I’m proud that I do not ignore this voice any longer! Are you with me? Can’t wait to see you there!