Bryan Bailey

I started writing to express the pain of the past. That was decades ago. Moved on since those bad old days and now in a happier place.

Eljai Morais is a playwright, poet, workshop facilitator and Founder & Director of Black Lives Natter CIC. Her work explores race, womanhood and social reflection through creativity, dialogue and performance.

Dhruti Shah is a multi-award-winning journalist and freelance wordsmith. Her journalism bylines have appeared across the BBC, The Guardian; New Arab; New Humanist, The New Humanitarian, The Washington Post, Bear Environment, and New Scientist. Her debut book Bear Markets and Beyond: A Bestiary of Business Terms won Short Business Book of the Year at the 2021 Business Book Awards. Her poetry has been featured by Spread the Word, The Margate Bookie, Black in White; Macclesfield Samaritans, Theatre Deli and Imagining Multispecies Belonging. Her short stories have been published by Carers UK and Calibre Audio. Her Substack newsletter is called Have You Thought About, and she is the creator of a podcast of the same name.

Davion Moore is a writer from Ohio. His passions include sports, poetry, and documentaries. His poetry can be found in works such as Lost at 27: Musicians, Artists, Mortals, Tranquility: An Anthology of Haiku, Social Possibilities: Poetic Voices Of Hope and more. He also has drabbles in various Black Ink Fiction projects.

Timothy Edgeworth

I am a writer from Bedford who suddenly felt compelled to start writing poetry at the beginning of 2025. Excited to see where it takes me!

Olayinka Sobitan-Solomon is a dynamic and multifaceted performer with over 10 years of experience and training in the creative arts. Trained in four disciplines — acting, dance, singing, and writing — she holds a BA in Performing Arts, with additional studies in Musical Theatre and Business/HRM. Olayinka has further honed her craft through specialized training at Anna Scher Theatre, Kingdom Arts, Meisner Sch and Maktub Theater Arts.

Olayinka’s recent work includes writing, producing, and performing her own show, Last Sixth, which featured at the Camden Fringe Festival (August 2024) at The CourtYard Theatre and Rosemary Branch Theatre. She has also participated in numerous performances at The Cockpit Theatre, including Theatre In The Pound, New Works, and the Re-enchant Spoken Word Festival. Worked with Hoo Ha House theatre company, on R&D for musicals and performed in ‘Brave Face and Friends’ London Tavern Hospital Theater. As well as ‘Maktub theatre arts ‘Ubuntu’ at Identity Theatre.

As a spoken-word artist, Olayinka performed at venues like Chelsea Theatre, The Hide Away, The CLF Art Lounge, in Flo Vortex, Moetry and Poet Behind The Mic. She is currently a resident artist, Black Lives Natter at Theatre Deli and participates in various scratch nights, including those at New Diorama Theatre.

Her versatility as a performer, Olayinka’s screen and short film credits include such as Harry Potter, The Legend Dick and Dom, 4Play, Touchwood 200, No Way Out, and Last Sixth. She is currently working on R&D Is Everyone Actually Okay, written by her and works as a facilitator at Freshwater Theatre Company, reenacting Black history figures.

Olayinka is also a published songwriter with Ninja Tune and is currently focused on her upcoming one-woman show, Reply 2 All, alongside her spoken word artistry and continuing building Last Sixth production to tour in more theaters.

Her professional journey spans stage and screen acting, choreography, and spoken word, with credits that include working with DreamWorks on the St Pancras Renaissance Project and performing as an opening dancer at O2 Greenwich. She is passionate about using her creative skills to bridge the gap between young people and their communities, focusing on youth community cohesion and engagement.

Cassianne “Caxxianne” Lawrence is a Jamaican-born, Cayman Islands-raised multidisciplinary artist based between Berlin and London. Working across music, poetry, radio, and event curation, she blends elements of alternative hip-hop with house and classical instrumentation to create a sound that is distinctly her own. Active since 2018, she has performed across Europe and the UK, with appearances at Glastonbury, Splash, Fusion, Hype, and Breminale festivals. Her work has been supported by BBC Introducing and recognised with awards such as the Listen to Berlin Jury Prize and TuneCore’s Upcoming Artist of the Year.

Beyond the stage, Caxxianne is the founder of Haven, a community platform rooted in music, wellness, and mental health advocacy. She also hosts Mind Over Music on Ghana’s Oroko Radio an ongoing conversation series addressing mental health in the music industry and bridging the gap between Africa and its diaspora. Her practice focuses on creating inclusive spaces that prioritize joy, healing, and care for Black and marginalized communities.

Jo Spice

Jo is an engaging street poet, writer, actress and digital online movie reviewer and hosts The Soothing Session (Derby Sound Community Radio Online).

She has participated in development programmes, commissions (with Renaissance One London) and volunteering opportunities within and beyond the East Midlands community.

Whilst working as a secretary for the NHS – Jo DJ’d for a local community radio and then became the first female street team member for Sony Music (UK).

As a poet (and lyricist) and more recent, a drama facilitator; Jo uses her creativity and artistry for creative, charismatic rapport with audiences with her own brand of Wit and Honesty creating ripples for a self-rediscovery and empowerment.

Karene Horner Hughes

A spoken word artist with a passion for nature and its beauty, and identity and its complexity. Karene loves the use of rhyme, I aim to make my poetry as accessible as possible. Poetry can be fun, poignant and challenging all at once.

Eljai Morais

Creative Polymath word sensory Empath

Since a race renaissance unfurling in the summer of 2020, where Black Lives Natter was coined, in the hotbed of sun, corona virus, lock down, and George Floyd…

When will enough be enough

When will you stop stripping our blackness right down to the soul

Searching for that reason that is never there to be found.

'cause I was the only

black girl in school,

and I wasn't aware

of bein' a colour

until then.

Ruby went to school on Monday

That was the day she wore her hair out,

And shone, the same day Mr. Whoever

Mr. Whatever, with his ‘Kevin Keegan’ quotes to hand

Asked her to move, so other students could

See the board. So she was None.