This summer I was delighted to receive a commission from Push the Boat Out Festival for their Poetry Feast of Mythical Beasts! They invited applications from poets to reimagine Scotland's mythical creatures in a contemporary context. I've long been fascinated by the ghostly portent of the bean nighe, a woman who dies in childbirth and … Continue reading Bean Nighe: New Poetry-Dance Piece
Hello all! After a poetry-packed Edinburgh Fringe, I'm looking forward to busy autumn full of gigs, workshops, and lots of exciting projects. One that I'm particularly looking forward to takes place this Thursday (15th September) in Aberdeen. I'm delighted to be reprising my dance-poetry piece 'Cutty Sark' at the Fabulous Cabaret, a free event coordinated … Continue reading ‘Cutty Sark’ Reprise in Aberdeen
Hello all! After a hectic, wonderful weekend of gigs, I'm spending this week in rehearsals for a brand-new commission. This year the Scottish Storytelling Centre and Edinburgh City of Literature have joined forces to produce Figures of Speech, a series of events bringing together writers and artists to take you on a road trip through … Continue reading Dancing Cutty Sark! Figures of Speech this Friday
Hello all! Quick post today to share details of an upcoming weekend of shows! This year's Loud Poets live season has been fantastic - we're so grateful to all the performers and audience members who've joined us. You can watch performances from many of the poets featured thus far on our YouTube channel, including Edalia … Continue reading Upcoming Gigs: Loud Poets, 13 & 14 May
Today I'm sharing a project really close to my heart, one that's been in the works since early spring. I was asked by the wonderful Glasgow agency Brand Calibre to create a poem and dance to raise awareness of mental health challenges. This year, the Mental Health Foundation's focus was Nature, so in composing and … Continue reading ‘Breathing Space’: New Poetry/Dance Video
Hello all! The past couple of months have been busy, busy, busy as I and the rest of the I Am Loud team have been working on Return to Form Season 2. I laid out the details in a post at the start of the project, but in case you missed it, this is our … Continue reading That’s a wrap on Return to Form Season 2!
Hello everyone! Hope you're keeping cozy as the days draw in. As the year winds down, I have one final live performance, and it's a special one! On Sun, 21st Nov I'm delighted to be sharing the stage with Pete the Temp for a thought-provoking evening of performances and discussion about UK spoken word poetry. … Continue reading Upcoming Show with Pete the Temp!
Hello all! It's been a busy, busy summer; I realise the last time I posted was to announce that Loud Poets were returning to live events at the Edinburgh Fringe. Happily, that went wonderfully; it was such a joy to return to a physical stage and share space with our audiences. Thank you so much … Continue reading New workshops! *Return to Form Season 2*
Hello all! A quick post today to share a new poetry video. It's a (hot and humid) nostalgia trip: a well-worn poem of mine based on my summers of farm work as a teen. Almost all of it is true (I nearly crashed a John Deere learning to drive), but some aspects are fictionalised (the … Continue reading New poem: “Farm Hand”
I'm so excited to share a brand new project! Today we at I Am Loud released the first episode of Loud Poets: Happy Hour, our new poetry podcast. Bex Sherwood is producing the show and I'm hosting, plus Kevin Mclean and Mark Gallie are along for the ride taking part in the challenges. What is … Continue reading Launching Loud Poets: Happy Hour!
Katie Ailes 