Theresa Lola is a British Nigerian Poet. She is the 2019/2020 Young People’s Laureate for London. She was joint-winner of the 2018 Brunel International African Poetry Prize. Her debut collection is In Search of Equilibrium (2019) published by Nine Arches Press.
"It must be said that Theresa Lola will soon become one of the most important writers in the UK.” - Anthony Anaxagorou
Pete (the Temp) Bearder is a loop station artist, comic and spoken word poet whose work has been work has been featured on BBC Radio 4, World Service and Newsnight. He is a former UK National Poetry Slam Champion and has performed at over 30 festivals, including a tour with Slamboree. He is the author of two books: Numbered Boxes (2016) and State Invasion: Poetry, Renewal and the Spoken Word Renaissance (2019).
‘Poetry’s answer to Mark Thomas’ - Chortle
Zia Ahmed is a North-West Londoner, and former Roundhouse Slam Champion. He is part of the London Laureates, having been shortlisted for London’s Young Poet Laureate 2015/16. He is Writer in Residence at Paines Plough as part of Channel 4’s Playwright Scheme. He is currently part of the Bush Theatre’s Emerging Writers Group.
“Impassioned poetry…crammed with a stream of original and darkly perceptive images.” - Sabotage
Simon Maddrell was born in Douglas, Isle of Man in 1965 and brought up in Bolton, Lancashire. He has lived in London, UK since 1999. In 2002, Simon founded and ran a multi award-winning charity, Excellent Development. Having written poetry since 2012, Simon resigned as Executive Director in 2016 to enable him to focus full-time on writing and performing.
