We have shortlisted 4 talented and passionate artists to develop their work. Come enjoy poets and wordsmiths bringing their views and experiences to life. The event features Dionne Simpson, Janoma Omena and Sabiya; artists whose work uses dark, witty, cynical and sometimes morbid humour and covers themes of abuse, race, culture and identity.

Our Line Up:

Dionne Simpson - performing as Purpose in the Pain. A Black British Creative, published author, musician and Domestic Abuse Advocate. As a survivor, my work both raises awareness and share my personal journey to
recovery. As a female with autism, my creative expressions are unique and easily shift between multiple disciplines including writing, spoken word and singing. Links to your work

Janoma Omena - I am a queer Nigerian creative writer and poet that tells the stories of young and queer people. I am a frequent performer at the Chapter one Open mic, Pull Up and Speak and Verbose Mcr. My work has been featured on Brittle paper, and anthologies from Writer Space Africa the Nigerian Chapter, Invisible Battles and Survival. I have also organised writing conferences and a facilitator of writing workshops at the Covenant University Literary and Debate Society.

Sabiya is a Liverpool-based spoken word poet and singer whose work weaves love, introspection, and stream-of-consciousness style speech into a raw and soulful energy within her work. As an emerging artist, she hopes to inspire other black and GM creatives to explore their own artistry.  The Shakespeare North Playhouse team are providing tech support, Dramaturg and production support this year which were are very excited about 4 sessions from the venue+ our artist development from performance for stage skills, Vocal sessions and structure and set + music to set apart and create something special and experimental.