Holly Winter-Hughes is especially passionate about using writing to express the stories we hold in our bodies. This comes through in both her poetry and her facilitation. Her work has been commissioned by various organisations including Apples & Snakes, Live & Local and Arvon. She has performed extensively across the UK including at Ledbury Poetry Festival, for Raise the Bar, for Cheltenham Poetry Festival and for the BBC. She is passionate about raising the voices of underrepresented people and as such, is the founder and CEO of The Word Association CIC (who have published over 30 anthologies from marginalised communities). She is currently studying for a Masters degree in Creative Writing for Therapeutic Purposes, and is a member of LAPIDUS. She is also planning her PhD in restorying the body. Holly is a widely published writer, most recently appearing in Clarion and Impossible Archetype, and upcoming in Ink, Sweat & Tears, Atrium and Tears in the Fence.

Spoz also goes by the longer name of Giovanni Esposito. He is an award winning performance poet, singer / songwriter, film maker, playwright and is the poet-in-residence at Birmingham City FC. He has been seen on BBC and Central Television, has written for and been heard on BBC Radio Four, Radio Five Live, Radio West Midlands, Radio Coventry & Warwickshire and Capital Gold.

Spoz has performed at the Glastonbury Festival, Shambala Festival, Larmer Tree Festival, Cheltenham Literature Festival, Oxford Literature Festival, Warwick Words Festival, Ledbury Poetry Festival, Wenlock Poetry Festival and Verve Festival of Poetry & Spoken Word.

Spoz was ‘crowned’ Birmingham’s eleventh poet laureate in October 2006. He continues to work extensively in schools, lifting the appeal of writing and performing poetry to hitherto, unseen heights.

Izzy Grace is a poet from Cardiff, who graduated YESTERDAY (22nd) from Bath Spa. She was a member of the BSU UniSlam team who are all absolute legends. She might have done other things at one point in her life but she can’t be arsed to write them down. Be prepared for themes of grief, childhood, identity and more strange, strange bollocks. Be warned for mention of the sad times, the good times, and the extremely strange and downright absurd times… and hamsters. Enjoy!

Dee Dickens lives on a mountain in Wales with their husband and two shedding familiars. Autistic with ADHD, they write from the margins to give the marginalised a voice. They are very, VERY fond of ribs.

Kathryn O’Driscoll is a spoken word poet, writer and activist from Bath, England. She is the 2021 U.K. Poetry Slam Champion and a World Slam Finalist. She talks openly about disabilities, mental health, LGBTQIA+ issues and joys and gender politics in her wide range of poems. She is the co-Founder of the Bath spoken word event The Poetry Spa.

She was longlisted for the Disabled Poets Prize 2023. She was longlisted for the Outspoken Prize for Performance Poetry, and the Saboteur Award for Best Spoken Word Artist in 2022. In 2021 she was one of the featured poets on the (BAFTA winning) Sky Arts spoken word TV show Life and Rhymes.

Her debut collection ‘Cliff Notes’ was released by Verve Poetry Press in February.