A star-studded line-up of poets and performers read from Allie Esiri’s uplifting poem-a-day collection in this gala event. Award-winning curator and poetry host Esiri introduces each segment.
Simon Armitage is Poet Laureate, author of Blossomise and Dwell. Gillian Clarke was National Poet of Wales, 2008–16, and is author of The Silence. Beatie Edney is an actor known for Poldark, Andor and Am I Being Unreasonable?. Sharon Horgan is an award winning writer and actor known for Catastrophe and Bad Sisters. Actor Damian Lewis is well known for his performances in Homeland and Billions. Theresa Lola is a British Nigerian poet and writer. As the Young People’s Laureate for London, 2019–20, her poem ‘Equilibrium’ was added to OCR’s GCSE English Literature syllabus. Paul McGann is an actor and director who has appeared in Withnail and I and Doctor Who. Nina Sosanya is a British Nigerian actor with many credits to her name, including His Dark Materials and Baby Reindeer. Actor and activist Juliet Stevenson is well known for her film roles including Truly, Madly, Deeply and Bend it Like Beckham. Joelle Taylor is a queer, working class author whose collection C+nto & Othered Poems was winner of the TS Eliot Prize for Poetry and the Polari Prize. She founded the national youth poetry slam championships, SLAMbassadors. Barry Ward made his debut age 13 in Family and is an actor of stage and screen having appeared in Ken Loach's Jimmy's Hall and That They May Face the Rising Sun.
