The Beautiful R.A.P Party

Born in Nigeria in 1984, Inua Ellams is writer and curator. He is a cross-disciplinary artist, an internationally touring performer, a poet, playwright, screenwriter, graphic artist & designer. His published books of poetry include ‘Candy Coated Unicorns and Converse All Stars’, ‘Thirteen Fairy Negro Tales’, ‘The Wire-Headed Heathen’, ‘#Afterhours’ and ‘The Actual’. His first play, ‘The 14th Tale’, was awarded a Fringe First at the Edinburgh International Theatre Festival. His plays include ‘Barber Shop Chronicles, ‘Three Sisters’ and ‘The Half-God of Rainfall’ He is currently touring ‘Search Party, An Evening With An Immigrant’ and working on several commissions across stage and screen.

Tone is a DJ and presenter (‘Diaspora Distins’, formerly on Worldwide FM). Her selections span across the motherland, its global black diaspora, and soulful, percussive sounds in the pockets that fall in between. She has played for the likes of All Points East, Afropunk LDN, No Signal, and opened for musicians that include Kokoroko, Yazmin Lacey and Ragz Originale.

Amy Key is a writer based in London. She is the author of two collections of poetry, ‘Luxe’ (Salt) and ‘Isn’t Forever’ (Bloodaxe). ‘Arrangements in Blue’ (Jonathan Cape), her first work of nonfiction, was published in 2023 and was selected as a book of the year by the Sunday Times and the Independent. Her essays have appeared in Vittles, Granta, Vogue, World of Interiors and elsewhere.

Will Harris is a London-based writer. He is the author of the poetry books ‘RENDANG’ (2020)and ‘Brother Poem’ (2023), both published by Granta in the UK and Wesleyan in the US. He has won the Forward Prize for Best First Collection and been shortlisted for the T S Eliot Prize. He co-translated Habib Tengour’s ‘Consolatio’ (Poetry Translation Centre) with Delaina Haslam in 2022, and helps facilitate the Southbank New Poets Collective with Vanessa Kisuule. ‘Siblings’, a collaborative project with Jay Bernard, Mary Jean Chan and Nisha Ramayya, was published by Monitor Books in February 2024.

Chloe AyoDeji Filani is an artist of poetry, performance, black feminism, a public speaker and workshop facilitator. Her artistic practice/poetry works with her lived experience of being a black trans woman and the broader themes of identity of power structures and finding hope in the imagination and storytelling, as well as an exploration of the metaphysical and oral histories of Oriki poems. She’s performed poetry at Prim Black and Burberry, Blackgirl Picnic, Writerz Scribez, HomeGallery, Touching Bass, 180 Soho House and much more.

Natalie Linh Bolderston is a Vietnamese-Chinese-British poet. In 2020, she received an Eric Gregory Award and co-won the Rebecca Swift Women Poets’ Prize. Her poem ‘Middle Name with Diacritics’ came third in the 2019 National Poetry Competition and was shortlisted for the 2021 Forward Prize for Best Single Poem. Her pamphlet, The Protection of Ghosts, was published by V. Press in 2019. She is now working on her first full-length collection.

Nels Abbey is a writer, broadcaster and former banker. He is the founder of Uppity: The Intellectual Playground and the author of ‘Think Like a White Man’. His new book, ‘The Hip-Hop MBA: Lessons in Cut-Throat Capitalism From The Moguls of Rap’, is out in April 2024.

Caleb Femi is a film director and the author of the award-winning book ‘POOR’.

Laura Dockrill is an award-winning writer from Brixton, south London. Her first book for children, ‘Darcy Burdock’, was shortlisted for the Waterstones Book of the Year Prize and the Carnegie Medal, and her young adult novel, ‘Big Bones’, was shortlisted for the YA Book Prize 2018. Her previous works, including ‘Mistakes in the Background’, ‘Ugly Shy Girl’, ‘Echoes’ and ‘Lorali’, have earned her plaudits like ‘Top 10 Literary Talent’ from The Times and ‘Top 20 Hot Faces to Watch’ from Elle. Laura’s writing has also expanded to stage and screen. Her first film, ‘Goldfish’, received a BAFTA nomination for Best Short. Her critically acclaimed memoir ‘What Have I Done?’ is being adapted for TV. She has been commissioned by the National Theatre, the Young Vic, the Old Vic, the Bush and the Donmar Warehouse. Laura’s first novel for adults, ‘I Love You, I Love You, I Love You’ publishes in summer 2024.

Reluctant activist on most things trans, brown and hairy. Sabah co-founded Trans Pride Brighton in 2013 and made The Rainbow List in 2015, celebrating 101 of the most influential LGBT people in Britain. Sabah has built a presence across UK and Europe, speaking at TEDx Brixton 2015, ILGA Europe 2016, IDAHOT Brussels 2017, Malmö Pride 2017/18/20 about intersectionality, identity and inclusion. A proud trans youth worker since 2014, currently at Gendered Intelligence. Psychotherapist, trustee for Inclusive Mosque Initiative, and co-founder of Colours Youth Network, supporting LGBTQ young POC in the UK. Sabah is the winner of the Gay Times Future Fighters Honour 2021 and the National Advisor for LGBT Health Award 2022. Based in West London, their passions also include fostering cats and talking to houseplants. Their latest book, ‘Supporting Trans People of Colour: How To Make Your Practice Inclusive’ with Jessica Kingsley Publishers, is out now.

Andy Craven-Griffiths is a writer and performer based in Leeds. He has performed poetry across the UK and abroad and had his work broadcast (Radio 1, Radio 4, BBC 2), and published in poetry journals. He has written commissions for the BBC, Arts Council, the charity Rethink Mental Health, and the NHS. His debut play, ‘Joygernaut’, toured nationally in 2019–20. In 2023, Andy completed his PhD in Creative Writing at the University of Leicester. As an educator, Andy has run writing workshops for the British Council, the NHS, Oxford University Press, Arvon, the Southbank Centre, Leeds Playhouse, Bradford 2025, and hundreds of schools. He currently teaches at Leeds Arts University.

Yara Rodrigues Fowler is from South London. Her first novel, ‘Stubborn Archivist’, was published in 2019 and nominated for various prizes. Yara’s second novel, ‘there are more things’, was published in 2022 and nominated for the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction and Goldsmiths Prize for formal innovation in the novel. It was also one of the Sunday Times, BBC Culture and New Statesman’s books of the Year. In 2023, Yara was chosen as one of Granta's ‘Best Young British Novelists’ in their once-a-decade list. Yara is also a part-time climate justice organiser.