Liam Johnson
Liam Johnson a.k.a. ZUBAT dropped out of the sky in November 2009 to place second in the John Tripp Award for Spoken Poetry, and now roams the country spouting his deluded lit-hop and wandering around forests.
2010… Liam Johnson, who is half English and half Canadian, moved to Wales when he was five and grew up in the countryside on a smallholding. He has four older siblings, one if whom used to read him poems instead of bedtime stories. Liam started writing his own poems and lyrics at fifteen, progressing to blocks of prose-poetry in the summer of 2007 after reading Jack Kerouac for the first time. He states the Beat Generation as his most significant influence. Liam is now studying at UWIC in Cardiff for a degree in English and Creative Writing. He is also currently attending open mic nights and writing a book. Liam won the Runner-up Prize and the Audience Prize at the 2009 John Tripp Award for Spoken Poetry.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVhBz6Uy9bY
Jackie Hagan
Jackie Hagan is an award winning performance poet, playwright and stand-up comedian. She won the Poetry Kit award for ‘best emerging artist’ in 2005, has been published in and edited numerous anthologies and magazines, and has had two books published. http://www.myspace.com/jackiehagan
When Jackie Hagan was 6, she danced out of an oversized Mother’s day card to the tune of war of the worlds as a gift to her Mum, she hasn’t changed much. She facilitates creativity sessions for adults with mental health needs, has edited and appeared in numerous anthologies, had her first play ‘Help!’, a surreal take on psychiatrity, staged at Contact Theatre Manchester and owns a blue peter badge for a bring-and-buy sale she never actually got round to doing. Her second collection of poetry ‘The Wisdom of the Jumble Sale’ has just been published by flapjack press.
Mab Jones
Mab Jones is a “fantastic!” (BBC Radio Wales) performer whose “delightful comic verse, articulate and imaginative” (Three Weeks) will have you enthralled. She is resident poet at this year’s festival. @mabjones http://www.mabjones.com/
In 2010…
Mab Jones is a performance poet from Cardiff. Winner of the John Tripp Spoken Poetry Audience Award, and finalist in the recent Farrago UK Slam Championships, she is sometimes referred to as a ‘burlesque poet’, sometimes as a ‘comic-political poet’. Her works veers from the darkly funny to the shockingly rude, from the delightfully naughty to the daringly satirical. She has performed all over the UK, supporting poets and comics like John Hegley and Lucy Porter, represented Wales at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington DC last summer with national poet Gillian Clarke, and recently had her first play performed at the Wales Millenium Centre. “Delightful comic verse, articulate and imaginative” – Three Weeks “Absolutely brilliant” – The Guardian “She is fantastic” – BBC Radio Wales
www.mabjones.com
Alkiel Chinelo
Akiel is a compelling Storyteller and Performance Poet. During 2008 he was an Artist in resident at Contact Theatre. He was featured on BBC Radio and in The Financial Times Magazine. His work has been seen at venues that include The Royal Exchange, Coral Hall and Wentworth Castle. He strongly believes in social harmony and is based in Manchester and The Gambia West Africa. Akiel’s urban and ‘Griot’ experiences from both communities are reflected in his dynamic and enriching work.
Patrick Jones
Patrick is a poet and playwright. His plays include Everything Must Go, Unprotected Sex and Revelation. His books include Fuse and Darkness is where the Stars are (which a certain right wing Christian pressure group tried to ban). He recently toured with Billy Bragg on his 25th anniversary tour of Wales and released a spoken word album, Tongues for a Stammering Time, with musical collaborations from Billy Bragg, The Manic Street Preachers, Amy Wadge and others.
www.patrick-jones.net
Sophie Mceand
A well-known face on north Wales’s cultural scene Sophie McKeand is a prolific writer who resides in Yr Wyddgrug, North Wales. Sophie’s performances are heartfelt and electric; inspired by the ancient Welsh tales of Taliesin and influenced by the great oral storytelling tradition of this region Sophie leads the audience through a rich tapestry of poetic musings. Sophie has shared the stage with a number of hugely influential poets including supporting the legendary Anthony Joseph and Wales’s favourite Patrick Jones. Sophie was the Bangor Slam Champion 2008 and is the International Pavilion (Llangollen) Poet for 2010; she also works with Academi.org to take the spoken word into high schools across the region in order to encourage our next generation to engage with poetry and the spoken word.
“A lively and exciting performer” – Childe Roland
“Sophie is a fantastic performer of her spoken words. They provoke, challenge, charm and connect with the listener on a very human level and are the very stuff of what poetry should do to us. I believe her poems and know she will play her part in the culture of Wales and beyond” – Patrick Jones
www.sophiemckeand.com
