About me

I am a poet born and based in Birmingham, where I run a monthly poetry night called Overcoat Poetry, spotlighting local and emerging poets, as well as being a part of the Verve Collective; a group of 12 poets chosen to represent the Birmingham poetry scene. In June 2024 I won the Roundhouse Poetry Slam held in London, the night of which was the most attended slam in history.

I believe poetry and spoken word is at its best when it is written for and concerning people as well as being out in the world, which is how I got the idea for Poetry on Demand: taking my typewriter to various parks, bookshops and festivals around Birmingham and writing bespoke poetry for strangers for free. In May 2024 I took Poetry on Demand to the Hay Festival in Wales, where I also performed a set of spoken word. I have also taken Poetry on Demand to Verve Poetry Festival, Northfield Story Festival, The Heath Bookshop Music & Literature Festival, CoCoMAD festival and to The Bookshop on The Green in Bournville as part of my role as Poet in Residence. My other duties as Poet in Residence included running workshops at Selly Manor Museum looking at the working-class histories of the areas I grew up in and hosting ‘Poetry Walks’ around the area, which would include passing the wall where I stuck up a poem for every day of Spring in 2021 during the second lockdown for people to read on their walks.

More recently, I was commissioned to write a poem for the Inspirational Youth Awards, to be shown at the awards ceremony and shared online, focusing on my upbringing in Birmingham. I also hosted ‘The Big Gay Poetry Night’ at the historic venue of The Hare & Hounds in Kings Heath with fellow poet and partner in crime Maddie Langham-Walsh in April. In the summer of last year, I was also commissioned to write a poem for the closing ceremony of the Birmingham Festival 2024, using ‘promises’ handed in by the public to craft a poem representing the people of Birmingham.

I am inspired by the likes of Benjamin Zephaniah, Kae Tempest, Gil Scott-Heron, John Cooper Clarke, Liz Berry, Caroline Bird, Cecilia Knapp, John Agard, Jim Harrison and Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze. I have a forthcoming debut collection releasing in 2025 with Verve Poetry Press that collects my spoken word performance pieces from the last couple of years, entitled ‘You missed the best part’. I am also in the process of writing a one man spoken word play that will debut next year titled 'Kid'.

I write for, and about, people.