People used to stare at me. I fight back with my paintbrush

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American artist Riva Lehrer was born with spina bifida. She endured countless medical procedures through her childhood and adolescence and was told she would never have a job, a romantic relationship or an independent life. But everything changed when as an adult Riva was invited to join the Disabled Artists Collective, a group of artists, writers and performers who were challenging myths around disability in their work. She tells Emily Webb how she began to paint their portraits - and through her art started to transform the stories she’d been told about herself. Nigerian writer Wole Soyinka is a literary legend; a poet, playwright and essayist who became Africa’s first Nobel Laureate in 1986. He has just published a new novel for the first time in half a century. He tells Outlook’s Helen Oyibo in Lagos how he endured two years of political detention during Nigeria’s civil war. This interview was first broadcast in February 2020. Get in touch: [email protected] Presenter: Emily Webb Picture: '66 Degrees'. A self-portrait by Riva Lehrer, 2019. Credit: Riva Lehrer