Bios

 

Ingólfur Eiríksson is an Icelandic novelist, poet and translator of Broadway musicals, with a particular interest in doppelgängers. His first novel The Big Book of Self Pity received the Icelandic New Voices Grant in 2021. Ingólfur lives in Reykjavík, where he teaches Icelandic as a Second Language.

 

Jay Mitra (they/he) is a British Indian punk poet, multi slam champion, and freelance journalist from Hull, currently based in London. Jay was a founding member of Hull’s poetry collective No Larkin About and is also an alumni of Manchester poetry collective Young Identity. They were selected as one of Apples & Snakes’ 40 Future Voices in poetry and were a winner of the Creative Future Writers’ Award in 2023. Jay was joint-third place in the Roundhouse Slam 2023 and is currently a member of the Roundhouse Poetry Collective 2024. Their poetry has been published in Acumen Poetry, Drawn To The Light Press, Streetcake Magazine and Broken Sleep Books’ Queer Icons anthology. He has been featured on BBC Radio 6 and BBC Radio 3’s The Verb and has also performed in BBC’s Contains Strong Language, Hit the Ode, Leeds Literature Fest, Manchester Pride, and Manchester Punk Festival. Currently, they are working as an English teacher and freelancing as a writer and facilitator.

 

Lydia Marchant is a writer for stage, screen and audio. She was one of eight writers selected for the BBC’s Writers Academy 19/20 led by John Yorke and since has written for Holby City and multiple episodes of Casualty and EastEnders. She also has original work in development with RoughCut TV.

Her debut full-length play MUMSY, about parenthood on a 0 hour contract, premiered in at Hull Truck Theatre and is published by Nick Hern Books. (‘Brilliant bittersweet comedy about the family way’ – The Guardian ****). She is currently under commission with Hull Truck developing a play about women’s football and endometriosis.  Her previous credits include: Paines Plough, Hull Truck Theatre, York Theatre Royal, Derby Theatre, Northern Stage, Live Theatre, Pilot Theatre, Separate Doors, Middle Child Theatre, Silent Uproar and The Roaring Girls.

She is currently writing for Wondery’s Spotlight Award-winning British Scandal podcast, presented by Alice Levine and Matt Ford and new Wondery showbiz series Terribly Famous. She also worked on an original 8-part podcast, Last Soviet, presented by NSYNC’s Lance Bass (‘impressive and interesting’ – The Guardian).  Lydia is a Squad Grad, has a Distinction in MA Writing for Stage and Broadcast Media from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and has previously taken part in writers programmes at Leeds Playhouse, Soho Theatre, National Theatre, Hampstead Theatre, Royal Court and BFI.

 

Katie (Tom) Walters is an autistic and physically disabled interdisciplinary artist who makes work about their life as a queer cripple who can’t stop thinking about trees. They work across a range of forms, including poetry, performance, and visual art, and have a keen interest in exploring the complex relationships between disabled bodies and their environments.

Alongside musician Elle Chante, Katie created the stage show Seasick, an interdisciplinary work of poetry and music using the ocean as a central metaphor to tell a story of coming to terms with disabling chronic illness. A short form version of Seasick was shared at The Barbican Centre in 2019, and the full length version debuted at The Belgrade theatre in 2021. Their debut poetry collection, My Body is a Resource I am Willing to Expend, was published in 2022 by Burning Eye Books. They are currently working as a regular writer for the video game and audio drama Zombies, Run!

Katie is a co-founder of disability arts organisation Radical Body, where they work to improve access to careers in the arts for people who have difficulty leaving their homes.