People Meet the Team Staff Isobel Colchester: Chief Executive [email protected] Isobel is Chief Executive of Poet in the City and has led its vision to bring live poetry to a wider audience and use the artform to create debate and change since 2014. She has worked with hundreds of artists in cultural venues, historic locations and community spaces, and some highlights include establishing a new music festival of poetry & lyrics, a national communities programme with the British Library, and filling St Paul's Cathedral with 2,000 Londoners to hear new work. With a background in skills development in the commercial and public sectors, she cares a lot about getting young people jobs in the arts, and breaking down institutional barriers to change how the culture sectors connects with the public. Isobel is also Chair of Camden People's Theatre. Sarisha Kumar: Head of Talent [email protected] Sarisha joined Poet in the City in August 2016 and leads Poet in the City Producers and other youth participation and emerging talent programmes, connecting cultural institutions with young people and facilitating job creation within and outside of the poetry sector. In 2020 Sarisha set up the National Producers Taskforce, a network of cross-sector organisations addressing key issues surrounding producer talent development and career pathways. Sarisha curates and produces fundraising and corporate sponsorship events and supports the wider artistic programme. Sarisha is passionate about youth voice and increasing access to the arts, she frequently works with youth charity The RISE Collective where she is an Associate Advisor. Sarisha is a trustee of the Almeida Theatre and Clore Emerging Leader 2021. Ruby Baker: Head of Programming [email protected] Ruby joined Poet in the City in April 2019 after five years as Creative Producer: Artists and Events at East London Dance where she was responsible for the artist development and professional performance programmes. Before this, Ruby was an independent producer working across festivals, carnivals and outdoor touring shows. As Senior Creative Producer, Ruby leads on Collections in Verse, a partnership project with the British Library that will commission new poetry and create events across England to tell the story of British Library exhibitions. Hari Lindsey: Creative Administrator [email protected] Hari joined Poet In The City in 2021 after working as an events and bookings assistant, helping curate poetry & live music line-ups in Brighton for the independent record label and events company QM Records. As Creative Administrator, Hari assists and manages the ongoing events and projects here at Poet In The City. In their free time, Hari is interested in pop music, liberation & DIY art practices, as reflected in their LGBTQ+ focused music outlet ICKY, and in their riotgrrrl inspired zine making. Newcastle Don Jenkins: Programme Coordinator [email protected] Don MacDonald aka Donald Jenkins (pen name) is performance poet, writer, workshop facilitator and event producer from Newcastle upon Tyne. His work has featured in - 'New Word Order' anthology- 'The Writer's Cafe' magazine and 'Riggwelter' journal and ‘Best New British Poets 2020/2021 Anthology’ from Eyewear Publishing. He has completed commissions on behalf of Curious Festival 2019, The Grapevine Project and 24 Hours in Isolation. Jenkins won the Great Gateshead Poetry Slam 2018 and has performed at Glastonbury Festival and Royal Albert Hall. He produces ‘Born Lippy’, his own Arts Council England funded poetry night and has curated stages for Lindisfarne Festival and Words Weekender. He is a qualified youth & community worker and English teacher, and has twenty-three years’ experience of engaging young people and adults from hard to reach communities in a variety of educational, community based and participant led settings. An experienced participatory art practitioner, he is committed to inspiring others to share, tell and write their stories. He has delivered workshops on behalf of Curious Monkey Theatre, Skimstone Arts, Apples and Snakes and his own company - SlamFresh. Tahmina Ali: Programme Facilitator Tahmina is a British Bangladeshi, Newcastle based spoken word poet, creative freelancer and young mother. Poetry has been a significant tool in Tahmina's life, it gave her a voice at a time where she felt voiceless. Now through her workshops Tahmina aims to pass on those very tools to others. Tahmina has performed at various events, poetry nights across the country and presented her poetry radio show on Fast FM for two years running, hosts her own Open Mic poetry night called Strictly Spoken and has been awarded the ‘ABC Arts and Culture Award’ for 2018 and 2019. Tahmina uses her poetry as a means to encourage positive change, her writing is generally influenced by identity, culture, social events and life as a young mother. Exeter India McLean: Programme Coordinator [email protected] India is a recent Ma history graduate from the University of Exeter who now works as a graduate digital learning developer supporting the College of Humanities with course design. She has lived in the South West for many years and has worked on different exhibitions with the Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Exeter Phoenix. Her academic interests are in 18th Century painters and writers and you can often find her scanning medieval poetry or printing 3D artefacts in a lab. Rebecca Tantony: Programme FacilitatorRebecca Tantony is the author of three poetry and short story collections, all published by Burning Eye Books. In 2016 she received an MA in creative writing and a distinction for my final manuscript. In 2017, she toured an Arts Council funded one-on-one immersive spoken word show, called All The Journeys I Never Took. Her work has been published in Magma and Mslexia and her projects Seventeen and Singing My Mother’s Song were both funded by the Arts Council, U.K. During 2017 and 2018 she taught Creative Writing at Bath Spa University and taught both BA and MA students at Wits University Johannesburg. She has read her work in numerous venues, including the Royal Albert Hall, the Natural History Museum, Southbank Centre, in Romania, Turkey, Sweden, South Africa and America. Rebecca curates and hosts programmes for leading creative and community events, including Bath Festival, Good Grief Festival, Shambala Festival and Bristol Harbourside Festival.Chris White: Programme FacilitatorChris is a poet, performer, multiple slam winner & submerging artist based in Exeter, who performs his work regularly at spoken-word nights and festivals from Latitude to Tongue Fu. He's created several theatre shows including Moist Moist Moist which received a 2021 Pleasance Partnership Award. He's the founder and host of Spork! Poetry and produces events, workshops and artist support across Exeter and the South West. In his silly, surreal way he often talks about queerness, identity and ducks. Contributors We work with a range of talented freelancers and contributors, in areas from marketing and design to special projects and commissions. Our printing is supported by the team at URBAN Design & Print. Our audio archive is managed by Melanie Low and Chris Kent, and previous podcasts have been produced by Alia Cassam. Hector Proud has 20 years experience working as a producer, programmer, publisher,publicist, gallerist, promoter and rabble-rouser, his experience of the arts & entertainment sectors is both broad and deep. As founder and director of The Proud Archivist and CultBrand (and, before that, Idea Generation Gallery & Idea Generation PR) Hector has overseen approaching 1,500 projects ranging across the spectrum of arts, entertainment & culture. Victoria Bastable began her relationship with Poet in the City as a participant of the Producers scheme, 2017 whilst completing her degree in English Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London. Since graduating from the producer’s scheme, Victoria has worked on multiple freelance projects with Poet in the City to produce events, films and poetry experiences. Victoria has just started working for Harmonic artists as a producer, publicist and artist manager whilst continuing to collaborate with Poet in the City. Lara Costello joined Poet in the City in January 2018 as Creative Marketing Coordinator, a role made possible by the Weston Jerwood Creative Bursaries scheme. She now works as a freelance creative practitioner, working primarily in live events, festivals and theatre, while still providing freelance marketing support to the organisation. Trustees Lennie Goodings (Chair) is Chair of the UK British publishing house Virago Press. Her authors include among others, Margaret Atwood, Maya Angelou, Sarah Dunant, Sarah Waters, Naomi Wolf, Joan Bakewell and Marilynne Robinson. She is Canadian and has been in London and with Virago since the late 1970s; working with authors and books is her passion. She is an author herself and has written A Bite of the Apple: Behind the Scenes at Virago Press. She was a trustee of English PEN and often chairs talks at festivals. Steve Abbott As a teenager Steve grew up on the Farley Hill Estate in Luton, and at 18, was the singer and songwriter in Luton punk band UK Decay. He then moved on to create the record label Big Cat (UK ) Records in his early 20’s, named after a Big Youth song, and Arc of Light Classical Record label. He is now an artist manager (Harmonic Artists Ltd ) and a consultant to the Arts , as well as various members clubs , and Luton. He left school in Luton at 16 with 4 GCE’s and credits poetry as the one major discovery that gave him a key to enter into the wider world . Mary-Alice Stack Mary-Alice is Chief Executive of Creative United, an independent Community Interest Company that specialises in the development of innovative finance solutions to enable growth within the arts and creative industries. She is a graduate of the Courtauld Institute with a BA in the History of Art, and has over 20 years experience working with arts organisations across the charitable sector. Prior to the establishment of Creative United, she was Director of ArtCo Projects at Arts Council England. Craig Westwood Since August 2016, Craig has been Director of Communications and Research for the Electoral Commission. Immediately prior to this role, Craig was a Partner at the communications agency Pagefield, leading corporate affairs accounts for clients ranging from multi-national brands to small charities. He spent the preceding 10 years at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, including four years leading policy on libraries and three as Private Secretary to the Minister for Culture. Before joining the Civil Service, Craig worked in corporate press offices including at Fourth Estate publishers and at the British Library. Zerritha Brown Zerritha Brown is a Cultural Producer and leader with 20 years’ experience in community arts and large scale events. She is currently the strategic lead for culture at Brent Council where over the last 12 years she has held various leadership and producing roles on high profile projects such as the London 2012 Games and the Mayor of London's Borough of Culture - Brent 2020 programme. A Clore Leadership Programme Alumni, she is passionate about equality and access and committed to creating deep and meaningful engagement which effects lasting change.Shahrukh Bhatty Shahrukh is a chartered accountant working for South Bank Employers' Group, South Bank Business Improvement District and Jubilee Gardens Trust. With more than ten years’ experience in not-for-profit and charity sectors, he has a broad base of finance and governance skills, knowledge and acumen to support Poet In The City. Outside his professional life Shahrukh is the Treasurer for Poetry London, a print magazine published three times a year, which attracts and publishes the best new work from around the UK and the world of contemporary poetry. He has a strong interest in arts and culture, ensuring it is accessible to all, and believes it has the power to enhance society by providing opportunities and addressing vital challenges. Charlotte Cole Fundraiser, relationship manager and events producer within the arts and non-profit sector. Since 2015, she has worked with National Careers Week, Royal Court Theatre, Wilton's Music Hall and is the incoming Development Manager at Battersea Arts Centre. Charlotte is also a Board Member with Young Arts Fundraisers, a professional network for early-career fundraisers in the cultural sector. Lucy Dundas Lucy is a communications professional with over 15 years working in the cultural, literary and heritage sectors. She is currently Head of Communications at the V&A, leading on strategic, corporate and commercial communications for the museum to support a new brand strategy and three new capital development projects in East London. Previous roles have included Associate Director at leading cultural communications agency Flint, developing and delivering high level creative campaigns for a broad range of clients, and four years at literary agency Peters, Fraser & Dunlop.