Inua Ellams Pit Party

Tobi Kyeremateng is a theatre, poetry and festival producer. She has worked with organisations such as Apples and Snakes, Bush Theatre, Roundhouse, Brainchild Festival, and others. She is founder of the Black Ticket Project, increasing access to theatre for black people. 

Birmingham born Steven Camden (Polarbear) is one of the most respected spoken-word artists in the UK. He was co-writer and script mentor on the Akram Khan Company's Olivier Award-winning production DESH. He has written three novels for HarperCollins: TAPE (2013), It's About Love (2015) and Nobody Real (2018).

Laurie Ogden is a poet and playwright born in Liverpool – emerging from Roundhouse’s ‘Spit the Atom’ Collective to become an unforgettable young voice in UnFOLD. Her poetry is captivating, subtle and acutely observed. Her work has featured on Sofar Sounds and national TV campaigns.

Jeremiah ‘SugarJ’ Brown is a Black British-Jamaican writer and performer based in Croydon. He is a Barbican Young Poet alumnus and former Roundhouse resident artist. His debut show Likkle Rum with Grandma sold out at the Roundhouse as part of the Last Word festival, and at Bernie Grants Arts Centre as part of SKFEST.

Hibaq Osman is a Somali writer born and based in London. Her work largely centres on women, identity and the healing process with a focus on the often hidden, nuanced aspects of our experiences. Her debut poetry collection A Silence You Can Carry was published with Out-Spoken Press in 2015. She is a member of OCTAVIA poetry collective.

Paul Cree is a storyteller, theatre maker, rapper and poet. He has performed at festivals and events such as The Edinburgh Fringe, Latitude, and Bestival, as well as having his work showcased on BBC 1Xtra. He has an EP of stories entitled The 90 Sick E.P and in 2018 published his debut collection of poems and stories, entitled The Suburban, with Burning Eye Books.

DJ Sid Mercutio a.k.a. Roland Idehen started as a DJ in 2000 and moved to music production, first practicing on a playstation, to a PC, and eventually learning Sound Recording Technology at London Metropolitan University. Further study at the prestigious Alchemea Studios led to the ever expanding knowledge of his craft and musical mind. His style deals with melodies, grooves, a touch of soul, not too hot or too cold for the human soul.

S K Perry’s debut Let Me Be Like Water was published in 2018 by Melville House. She has delivered creative writing workshops for PEN International in Honduras and Scotland, for the Roundhouse in Bulgaria, and all across the UK with different schools and organisations. 

Bohdan Piasecki is a poet from Poland based in Birmingham. He has worked as Director of Education on the Spoken Word in Education MA course at Goldsmiths University and was the Midlands producer for Apples and Snakes between 2010 and 2017. He is currently General Manager at Free Radical, a Birmingham-based company creating opportunities for young artists with an activist practice.

Indigo Williams is a British Nigerian poet and Spoken Word Educator from South London. She uses her poetry to explore themes of race, gender and spirituality. She has performed at TedxBrixton, BBC Radio 4’s Bespoken Word, Glastonbury Festival and has spoken at Oxford and Cambridge University.    

Born in Nigeria, Inua Ellams is a poet, playwright and performer, a Complete Works poet alumni and a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Across his work, identity, displacement and destiny are recurring themes in which he also tries to mix the old with the new; traditional African storytelling with contemporary poetry. His poetry is published by Flipped Eye, Akashic, Nine Arches and several plays by Oberon.   

Tony Adigun, Artistic Director of Avant Garde Dance, brings together a unique collective of multi-disciplinary dance artists in The Firm (Fearless Innovative Revolutionary Movers). Ranging from a fusion of various dance styles such as b-boying, hip hop, krump, poppin’ and contemporary dance, they will display explosive and intimate performances giving an insight into the world of the 80s cult classic The Warriors.