The search is on to find the next inspirational Woman of the Year Award 2026 at BCWA`s International Women`s Day event on 7th March and one of the nominations is Saida Chowdhury (pictured).
Saida was born in Bangladesh, grew up in West London and moved to Birmingham to raise a family. She is a teaching assistant at a local school.
For the past 12 months she has championed removing the stigma behind mental health, especially for women of South Asian heritage where 1 in 4 women are affected. Saida is a member of the South Asian Women Writers Group which includes Wolverhampton Poet Laureate Dr Kulhi Kohli. Saida has also recently worked with renowned Wolverhampton film maker Graham Everitt (GapintheMind) on a project called "Blue Monday" about mental health. In the month of January alone she has spoken publicly at Dudley Library (Poetry Breakfast with Saturday Books), Stourbridge Social Club (The People`s Platform) and Walsall Makers Fringe Festival where she uses spoken word and culture to empower other women.
"I was fascinated with the Japanese art practice Kintsugi whereby broken pottery or ceramics are mended using precious metal liquids or lacquer with gold dusting to highlight the objects cracks or brokenness" explained Saida. "This art form promotes the cracks as being an intimate part of the object`s history, and having been broken, only makes it more beautiful. The idea is to celebrate the history of the cracks rather than hide them."
Saida`s debut poetry collection, Broken Minds, was launched at Blue Sheep Books in Wednesbury and and featured in Bangla Month in a celebration of Bangladeshi art and culture at the Midlands Arts Centre. A film charting Saida`s journey of empowerment was created by another renowned film maker also called Graham - Graham Stubbs - where the film, Finding My Voice, was publicly shown at the Midlands Arts Centre during Bangla Month.
Broken Minds was hailed as a milestone in female empowerment from creative and cultural perspectives and was endorsed by Poets Against Racism, Dr Kuli Kohli, Sureena Brackenridge MP, Legacy WM, Bangladeshi Artist Development Agency, Black Country Radio, Creative Connections and the 1in3 Arts Council England Project.
The purpose of these high profile awards are to find candidates who give to their communities, whether that be their energy, expertise or enthusiasm, to help create a more supportive and interconnected world.
Candidates will be exceptional women who challenge discrimination, question bias and celebrate women`s success. They share their knowledge, encourage others and work in partnership for gender equality. They could have made their mark in a male-dominated workplace, acted as a mentor or role model or used art and culture to help women find their voice.
"Saida Chowdhury is deeply committed to the idea of women empowering women" said Sureena Brackenridge MP "and is using her voice to break down barriers, particularly around the stigma of mental health within the Asian community.
I wholeheartedly applaud Saida for her bravery in addressing these issues and for using her poetry as a tool for change."
