17 June 2010, 7pm, Free Word Centre, 60 Farringdon Road, London, EC1R 3GA
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Nii Ayikwei Parkes: Nii was children’s poet in residence at the Brighton Festival in 2007, has led storytelling sessions at the Southbank Centre and British Museum and his poem ‘Wrong Side’ has been memorised by hundreds of pupils across the UK. His debut novel, Tail of the Blue Bird, was published by Jonathan Cape in 2009. He was Booktrust's second writer-in-residence.
Laura Dockrill: Formerly Dockers MC, Laura Dockrill is a poet and illustrator from South London . A graduate of The Brit School of Performing Arts, twenty-three year old Laura was named one of the top ten literary stars of 2008 according to The Times and was voted Elle's top face to watch out for in 2009. Her sassy and unique way with words has captivated audiences at gigs and festivals everywhere, from Glastonbury to the London Word Festival. She has been at the forefront of the performance poetry movement, having appeared on programmes such as Woman's Hour and Newsnight Review. She is the author of Ugly Shy Girl.
Luke Wright: 4Talent award winner Luke Wright might just be the hardest working man in poetry. Since 2006 he’s launched his own curve-ball bid to become Poet Laureate, programmed and hosted Latitude’s poetry arena (the largest poetry event in Europe) and has become the newest poet-in-residence on BBC Radio 4’s Saturday Live. In 2009 he took contemporary poetry onto primetime TV, writing all the poetry for Channel 4’s The Seven Ages of Love, a 30 minute documentary that gained ‘pick of the day’ in 8 national publications and was broadcast to over a million people.
He has four solo poetry stage shows: Poet Laureate, Poet & Man, A Poet’s Work Is Never Done, and his current one - The Petty Concerns of Luke Wright. He is currently developing a fifth - Cynical Ballads.
His first book, Who Writes This Crap?, co-written with Joel Stickley, was published by Penguin in 2007. His debut pamphlet was published by Nasty Little Press in 2009.
Dizraeli: Rapper, writer, poet and singer, Dizraeli is a hip hop tour de force. Taking in politics, love, rain, supermarkets, grief, drug culture and masculinity with a sense of humour and directness that can make you wince, Diz is the BBC Radio 4 Poetry Slam winner, the 2006/7 Farrago UK Slam Poetry Champion, and a massive idiot at times. He’s also one third of the Mud Sun platoon, alongside Baba Brinkman and Mr Simmonds.
Doc Brown: Doc Brown originally made a name for himself as a rapper via the rugged London battle scene, winning over his audiences with his sense of humour and self-deprecating style.
Younger brother of award-winning novelist Zadie Smith (White Teeth), Doc had always shown a penchant for exceptional writing skills, particularly in Comedy, and has extended his talent to musical contributions for BBC TV and Radio. He currently boasts writing and performance credits on a number new BBC comedy shows such as Danny Robins’ Music Therapy, Lenny Henry’s vehicle Rudy’s Rare Records and the sports spoof Look Away Now.
Doc has now become a headline act, as well as an accomplished comedic writer with credits on Radio 4's The Now Show and a bonafied comic actor with roles in CBBC's Big Babies, C4's The Inbetweeners and Ben Miller's forthcoming movie Huge.
