Bio

CV: Titilayo Akanke

Education

M.A., Morgan State University. English with concentrations in screenwriting and creative writing. Thesis: Emergence, an Original Screenplay. May 2014. Baltimore, Maryland.

B.A., The University of Detroit. Broadcast Communications. April 1979. Detroit, Michigan.

Technological Skills

Blogging (http://titilayoakanke.blogspot.com); website development; photography; Final Draft; Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel)

Teaching and Youth Advocacy Experience

Writing Tutor/Academic Coach/Book Club Facilitator. Morgan State University Center for Academic Success and Achievement (CASA). Work one-on-one with students to improve papers by reviewing grammar and content. Develop and facilitate activities for a common reading experience for incoming freshman during the CASA Summer Academy. Baltimore, Maryland. September 2010 to present.

Volunteer Tutor. Dyslexia Tutoring Program. Provide one-on-one tutoring to dyslexic and slow readers in exchange for 20 hours of training working with that population. Baltimore, Maryland. October 2007 to April 2016.

Residential Assistant. Provided care for adjudicated, emotionally disturbed and abused girls in an institutional setting. House of Good Shepherd. Baltimore, Maryland. November 2007 to September 2010.

English Language Arts Teacher, Team Leader. Aisha Shule/W.E.B. DuBois Preparatory Academy. Detroit Public Chartered School Academy. Managed daily operations of the middle school. Taught English language arts to students in grades six to eight. Detroit, Michigan. September 1990 to June 2006.

Teacher, Artistic Director. Inner City Sub-Center. Tutored students in grades six to eight in English; taught traditional West African dance to children ages 5 to 17. Detroit, Michigan. September 1991 to June 2005.

Writing and Publication

Sacred Days, novel scheduled for release in January 2017, tell the story of two elderly women struggling to maintain their dignity and independence as they grow older and increasingly need assistance, but refuse help from family and friends. The novel examines the sociopolitical ramifications of agin in American society.

Original Screenplay: Emergence. Thesis project. Depicts the plight of institutionalized girls. Received the 2014 Adele V. Holden Writing Award from the Morgan State University English Department.

Original Play: One act play, The Making of a Cultural Woman, explores the struggle of an African-American woman as she attempts to integrate heritage, cultural roots, and entrepreneurial endeavors. Received the 2013 Adele V. Holden Writing Award from the Morgan State University English Department; in 1981, received recognition from a local Detroit literary and arts organization and was produced at the former Langston Hughes Theatre in Detroit.

Conference Presenter via Skype and Publication: “Precious: Exploiting African-American Stereotypes or Giving Voice to the Voiceless.” Conference: “The African-American Experience Since 1992.” September 2013. Hull University, United Kingdom. Publication pending for the book, African American Culture & Society Post Rodney King: Provocations & Protests, Progression & Post-Racialism.

Original Novella: Sacred Days, depicts the challenges of an elderly woman as she struggles to maintain her independence. Received the 2013 Adele V. Holden Writing Award from the Morgan State University English Department.

Presenter: Third International Conference on Caribbean Studies. “Prophetic King of Reggae, Exploring Bob Marley’s Music through the film Marley.” Marquette University. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. April 2013.

Article and Photographs: “The Role of Women in Haile Gerima’s Films.” Black Camera Journal, An International Film Journal. Indiana University Press. Photos of Gerima in his studio, May 2013. Publication of article pending in the upcoming book, Answerable: Haile Gerima’s Pan-African Cinema of Liberation.

Original Script (pilot for a one hour television drama): Urban depicts the tumult in an urban community and the relationship with the community center that struggles to meet the needs of the people. Submitted to the Overbrook Entertainment Screenwriting Competition, March 2013; and Scripts Pipeline Screenwriting competition, December 2010.

Editorial Assistant. Lotus Press. Aided in the production of an anthology of poetry, Adam of Ife: Black Women in Praise of Black Men, under the direction of Naomi Long-Madgett. Detroit, Michigan. March 1991 to August 1991.

Contributing Writer for several publications including Caribbean Entertainment Guide, Impact Magazine, Detroit Dance News, African Business News, For My People Newspaper, and Thedamu Arts Magazine. February 1982 to December 1990.

Public Relations/Communications Specialist. Broadside Press. Managed media contacts, permissions, general company correspondences and contact with the public. Assisted with monthly “Broadside’s Poets’ Theatre” featuring Broadside Poets. Highland Park, Michigan. September 1980 to June 1981.

Michigan Chronicle Newspaper Staff Writer: Investigative reporting, arts reviews. Articles published weekly. May 1979 to January 1982

Film Experience

Crew: Maryland Film Festival. Usher, crowd management. Annually in May 2012 - 2014.

Reader: Baltimore Screenwriting Competition. Script coverage, analysis and scoring of contestants. Yearly: spring 2009 to spring 2012.

Production Assistant/Photographer: Documentary: condition of young black men in America. Producer: former CNN news anchor, Tony Harris, for Al-Jazeera Network. May 2012.

Intern, Cannes Film Festival: International Creative Management (ICM). Awarded by Creative Minds in Cannes. Script coverage, sourcing tickets, general errands. Cannes, France. May 9 - 23, 2011.

Production Assistant: film, Road to Demascus. Baltimore, Maryland. April, 2011.

Producer/ Director: Documentary rough cut, Turmoil and Triumph: the Plight of Urban Youth, explores the issues of urban youth and solutions. Filmed in Baltimore and Detroit. (May 2009).

Titilayo Akanke

Akanke was a journalist for the Michigan Chronicle newspaper and a contributing writer for several publications including For My People newspaper, Detroit Dance News, and the Caribbean Entertainment Guide. In the early 1980s, she was the communications specialist for Broadside Press; and in the early 1990s, she served as an assistant for Lotus Press, providing support for acclaimed poet and publisher Naomi Long-Madgett in the production of an anthology of poetry titled Adam of Ife: Black Women in Praise of Black Men.

After adding screenwriting to her credits, Akanke has continued honing her craft and learning more about the industry through involvement at the grassroots level. Most recently she served as a sign-up volunteer at the 2015 and 2016 Sundance Film Festival. She has been a volunteer member of the theatre crew for the Maryland Film Festival for six years, acted as a reader for the Baltimore Screenwriting Competition for three years. In 2015, she entered her screenplay, Emergence, in the 2015 Baltimore competition and in the American Black Film Festival Screenwriting Competition sponsored by TVOne. As part of the Creative Minds in Cannes film program, she participated in a two week study-abroad opportunity with International Creative Management at the Cannes Film Festival (2011) where her tasks included script coverage, sourcing tickets, and running errands. She produced a rough-cut documentary titled Turmoil and Triumph: The Plight of Urban Youth (2009) which examines the issues affecting today’s youth.

Akanke also has other teaching and youth advocacy experience. From 2011 to 2014, she worked for the MSU Center for Academic Success and Achievement (CASA) as a writing tutor. During the summer she works for CASA as the book club facilitator, an undertaking in which she guides incoming freshman through a common reading experience. In 2015 she facilitated a five week Hip Hop Seminar in which students studied the relevancy and impact of the Hip Hop cultural movement on today’s youth. In Baltimore, she also worked for three years as a residential assistant in an institution for emotionally disturbed and adjudicated girls. Akanke was a middle school English language arts teacher for fifteen years for Aisha Shule/W.E.B. DuBois Preparatory Academy, a Detroit chartered school academy. During that same period, she also worked in an after school and summer program at Detroit community center, the Inner City Sub-Center. There she was an English tutor, dance instructor and artistic director of a youth performing arts company. For three years, she also served as the program director for the summer youth program at the Detroit’s former Malcolm X Community Center. As an educator, artist, and youth advocate, Akanke draws on unique life experiences to inform her creative voice.

Titilayo Akanke is a writer, photographer, educator, artist, and youth activist. She is currently a lecturer in the Department of English and Language Arts at Morgan State University (MSU). As a non-traditional student, she earned her Master of English degree with a concentration in screenwriting and creative writing from MSU in May 2014, and her Bachelor of Arts with a major in broadcast communications from the University of Detroit in 1979.

As a writer, Akanke has received recognition for her creative endeavors, has been involved in a number of independent projects, and has worked as a contributing writing for several publications. She is currently in the final stages of completing her first novel, titled Sacred Days which examines the issue of aging in America. She received the 2013 and 2014 Adelle V. Holden Creative Excellence Award from the English Department at MSU for her novella, Sacred Days, and her one act play, The Making of a Cultural Woman (2013), and for her screenplay, Emergence (2014). The play also received an award from a Detroit arts organization in 1981 and was produced at the former Langston Hughes Theatre.

Akanke Bio