London Poetry Festival Team
At a pre-Festival pause: 4th London Poetry Festival 2008
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Festival Director: Munayem Mayenin email contact: contact at londonpoetryfestival dot com 07526 630 850 Festival Residency and Education Director: Claire Askew email contact: claire dot askew at londonpoetryfestival dot com Festival Public Relations Director: Sharon Harriott email contact: sharon.harriott at londonpoetryfestival dot com Poetry Youth Co-ordinator: Kathleen van Geete email contact: kathleenvangeete at london poetry festival dot com Poetry Films Co-ordinator: Helena Sainz De Vicuña: helena.sainzdevicuna at londonpoetryfestival dot com
Sharon Harriot, Munayem Mayenin and Kathleen Van Geete at the Festival 2009 |
Festival Volunteers Siobhan Lennon Donal Lennon Cheryl Campbell Femi Shekete Emily Cross Jack Foley Kathleen Wainwright
Cheryl Campbell and Kathleen Van Geete at the Festival 2009
Femi Shekete and Cheryl Campbell at the Festival 2009 |
The Festival Director and the Team work with a great number of volunteers without whose support the Festival would not take place.
Festival Residency and Education Director: Claire Askew
email contact: claire dot askew at londonpoetryfestival dot com
London Poetry Festival welcomes Claire Askew in her new role as Residency and Education Director. Her role will involve running the Poets in Residence Programme mentoring and supporting the Poets in Residence at the Festival and working with educational, youth, poetry and literature organisations, community and cultural organisations and other arts establishments interested in poetry in addition to representing the Festival in poetry and literary communities and work as part of the Festival Team.
Claire is an astonishingly talented and gifted poets and writers and won many a prizes and accolades for her writings and tirelessly promotes young and emerging poets and writes through her publications and her publishing press.
She has served as Poet in Residence at Poets' Letter in 2008 and was herself one of the six Poets in Residence at the 4th London Poetry Festival in 2008 and anchored and conducted the Festival events wonderfully.
http://poetsletterarchivepoetrypearl.poetsletter.com/ClaireAskew.htm
To read Claire's writing please visit Poets' Letter website and here on the Festival website she has a page as well. Here
Claire was born in Northallerton, North Yorkshire in 1986. During her early life, Claire and her family moved around a great deal – she attended four primary schools in around five years, and has lived in North Yorkshire, Worcester, Herefordshire, the Scottish Borders and Midlothian . As a result, Claire does not really call anywhere ‘home,’ but she currently lives in the centre of Edinburgh , and has done for the past five years. The city is one of the great loves of her life, and she is deeply attached to its cultural diversity and creatively charged atmosphere. Claire has an MA (Hons) in English Literature and is about to complete an MSc in Creative Writing, both from the University of Edinburgh. Later this year she is due to begin a literature PhD.
Claire’s poetry has appeared in The Edinburgh
Review, Textualities, Poetry Scotland and the Chimera, among others. In
2008 she was awarded the Grierson Verse Prize, the Sloan Prize for Writing
in Lowland Scots Vernacular, the Lewis Edwards Award for Poetry and the
William Sharpe Hunter Memorial Scholarship for Creative Writing. One of her
poems was also selected to appear in the Scottish Poetry Library's '20 Best
Scottish Poems of 2008' anthology, and in January of this year she was
nominated for the Scottish Variety 'Best New Writer 2009' Award.
Claire is also the founder and Editor in Chief of Read This Magazine, a
literary arts zine which aims to provide a platform for young and emerging
writers from all walks of life. Read This is in print monthly and online at
http://www.readthismagazine.co.uk and has so far produced eighteen
successful issues. Claire also runs a writing blog for young poets at
http://www.onenightstanzas.com,
and has recently launched Read This Press, a pamphlet micropress.
Festival Public Relations Director: Sharon Harriott
email contact: sharon.harriott at londonpoetryfestival dot com
Sharon Harriott has been involved with Poets' Letter and London Poetry Festival for a long time. She was one of the six Poets In Residence at the 4th London Poetry Festival. Read her works here. She has taken on the responsibility of being the Festival Public Relations Director.
“When i was five years old my dad brought home an old school desk, one of those ones with a lid that you can lift and store secrets inside. I would keep my collection of scented rubbers; shaped like flowers and giraffes, my pencil cases and rainbow paper and then spend hours scribbling stories with a mild frustration that came from not knowing how to spell the words I wanted to use. I remember my parents angry faces peering around my door when I should have been dreaming and having my pens confiscated until the next day.
At school I exasperated my maths and physics teachers, whilst I was the teachers pet in English and Humanities. School reports always bore bold red writing to my parents; “Needs to concentrate more in class. Sharon is easily distracted…”
I write because I’m moved to do it. I’m driven to find the right words to express a concept, or an emotion. I see poetry in meetings, standing on a packed tube and a jarred conversation. I love painting pictures with words, hoping that by the end, a reader may the see the world as I was seeing it at the time."
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Sharon Harriot is London born and bred. She studied journalism at University, and started her career on a teen magazine. Now a Film and Events PR Manager, she writes press releases on the latest films and organises entertainers for Fun in the Foyer at major film launches.
Sharon rediscovered her love of writing poetry and short stories after University when she took up a couple of creative writing courses. She's posted much of her recent work on EditRed.com, where she's inspired by a whole writing community, and where she's won a couple of poetry competitions! January 2007 saw the launch of her Audiobook Reviews blog Audiogeist. Long car journeys to work meant that instead of listening to the sometimes brain numbing breakfast radio, she could listen to the novels she missed reading on a tube journey. She's also reviewed audiobooks for poetsletter magazine, as well as writing short Blogs on MySpace at myspace.com/cravingaudio
She now sees poety in everything she does, and spends her free time writing. She's continuously inspired by her favourite website, Editred.com on which she's uploaded much of her work, and has also had work published on a websites including Alors, Et Toi? Hecale and Poetsletter; you can also read her latest audiobook reviews on audiogeist.com.
email contact: sharon.harriott at londonpoetryfestival dot com
We always welcome people's contributions by way of giving us their time and enthusiasm for poetry. We are going to need a lot of volunteers to help us organise and manage the four-day events. Please contact us if you would like to get involved. We are looking for people from London and from those living outside London but would be in London at the festival period and therefore, no applications are sought from outside UK. So please if you have some time do send us an email or call.
Photo: Kerry-Fleur Schleifer
Photo 1: Photo Credit: Kerry-Fleur Schleifer
Photo 2: Photo Credit: Nazma Khanum
Munayem Mayenin is an English Author, Poet, Novelist, Playwright, Screenplay Writer, Song Writer, Children’s Writer, Thinker, Editor, Festival and Events Director who writes all genres of creative writings including Philosophical and Sociological Studies. In short: Mayenin is an Imagination Worker, writing and living away the wonders of life; areally in words, ideas and thoughts he lives and writes the areal business of the magic, music and magnanimity of life and living.
Mayenin's aesthetics is arealism, philosophy humanics and breath of his identity comes from belonging to the humanion of humanity that flowers in an overwhelming awe of a bloom on the surface of the Mother Earth; at home in the wondrous infinite Universe he sings the joys and wonders of life.
Munayem Mayenin is the Festival Director of London Poetry Festival, Editor of Poets' Letter Magazine, Poet in Residence at Southwark Libraries, father of three children and author of 14 published books of poetry, sonnet, prozzitry, poetic romantic fiction, philosophy and novel.
Mayenin edited 'The Poets’ Letter Poetry Anthology of New Voices'
(London, 2005). He co-edited 'Slivers: An Anthology of South Asian Poetry in
Britain', which was published in London in 1997.
Mayenin wrote for many publications in the UK, America and internationally in
the 90s, edited many publications and has been involved closely with the
publishing and media industry. Mayenin has made appearances through interviews
in the following: The Guardian, The Observer, The Writer’s News, The New Age,
The Poetry Life and Times, The BBC Radio 4, BBC Asian Network, BBC World
Service, LBC Radio, British Satellite News, Nikki Bedi Show, Channel S
Television and more.
Read Munayem Mayenin's Interview in The Guardian: Sept 15, 2007
http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,,2168427,00.html
In The Observer
http://www.observerunlimited.co.uk/print/0,,330736719-103425,00.html
Read This Magazine
http://www.readthismagazine.co.uk
On BBC Asian Network Nikki Bedi Show
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b00cw0g3
Interview on British Satellite News
http://www.bsn.org.uk/view_all.php?id12049
On Channel S
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=PPEzP8qF79Q
An Interview in The Sentinel Poetry Quarterly
http://www.sentinel.org.uk/1007/interview.htm
Mayenin studied Bangla Language and Literature in addition to English, French, Greek, Persian, Sanskrit, German, Spanish and Russian Literature as well as Linguistics, Phonetics and Phonology as part of his B.A (Honours) degree under University of Chittagong and read MA in the same areas of studies but left Bangladesh before sitting the exams.
He studied science (Mathematics, Physics, Botany, Zoology and
Chemistry) up to college intending to be a physician, which later modified into
becoming a Chemist or a Physicist until the university opened up the doors of
literature and arts for him! In addition to his subjects he read great
classical and modern European, African and Latin American literature and poetry
including, of course, English, French and German literature as well as
Philosophy, Psychology and Islamic History while Eastern and Western Philosophy
provided the food of his soul and mind.
He studied Journalism at National Council for the Training of Journalists, City
University and London School of Journalism in the nineties in addition to his
studies in Youth and Informal Education (Canterbury and Christ Church University
College), Special Educational Needs (Brunel University) and Public Sector
Management (Trnas-Atlantic College).
He worked as a civil servant serving education, adult education and informal
education, mother tongue and supplementary education, and social services. He
spent several years involved in teaching Bangla language and literature at
School of Oriental and African Studies-SOAS (University of London), University
of Westminster and Adult Education Services of Tower Hamlets and Newham
(teaching Bangla and Sylheti).
Mayenin worked many years as an Examiner for Sylheti and Bangla Languages for The Institute of Linguists and has spent many years involved in community initiatives and festivals in London.
Mayenin’s poetry has so far been translated and published in
Spanish, Mongolian and Arabic.
Mayenin attended and read at The First Prague International Poetry Festival 2004
and attended and presented a Philosophy Paper (On Dehumanisation of Humanity) at
the 12th Philosophy Born of Struggle Conference (October 2005) at The New School
University, New York.
Mayenin is father of three children and lives and writes in London.
Mayenin loves and lives poetry which is the voice of his soul. As an author
Mayenin's consciousness is deeply rooted in the philosophical conviction that he
is morally obliged to continue to promote, foster and discharge his social and
moral responsibilities towards the humanion he feels so deeply a part of. He
believes himself to be a citizen of the mother universe and his works call
humanity to a universal humanion of humankind in the cosmosian theatre of life
in this beautiful infinite universe. He opposes any other forms of identities in
favour of the Humanion of humankind on this Blue Planet.
Relevant Websites:
http://www.munayemmayenin.co.uk
http://www.londonpoetryfestival.com
Youth Poetry Co-ordinator: Kathleen van Geete
Kathleen has just joined the Festival Team as Youth Poetry Co-ordinator and will concentrate on developing youth poetic voices being uttered about in secondary schools, colleges and university campuses and the youth work arena of London and the country in general. Kathleen herself is a young poet and passionate about poetry. She has been published in London Poetry Pearl Life's London Poetry Elleesium Poetry Anthology. Kathleen will work with the Team to develop an online feature of youth poetry: Poetry Campus that will be part of the Festival website presentation offering a platform to young poets.
Poetry Films Co-ordinator: Helena Sainz De Vicuña
Helena Sainz De Vicuña has joined the Team as Poetry Films Co-ordinator and will be working towards adding her passion into bringing poetry films to life at the 6th London Poetry Festival 2010 and beyond.
Helena combines an
unusual career dividing her time between her job as a pharmacist and
freelance work for short films and feature films and, film festivals in
Spain and UK.
She finished her Master in Pharmacy (Mpharm) in 2003 and following her
growing passion into cinema and it felt like a natural move when she
decided to undertake film studies specialising in Film Production. She
has been a producer and production manager in many short films and has
worked as extras coordinator in several feature films. She has also been
involved in Film Festivals like San Sebastian International Film
Festival where she was a Youth Jury member for many years.
She moved to London in 2007 following her interest in the cultural
opportunities the city has to offer.
Helena has worked on an
animation for the Woodland Trust and in the feature film “Egression” by
Ray Brady.
Currently, she is studying Arts Management and plans to focus her career
in Film Festival Management.
She is Films Editor of Poets Letter Group of Publications bringing her
passion for films and love of life and arts with a new and fresh
insight.
Festival Volunteers
Siobhan Lennon
Siobhan Lennon has been a Resident Artist of the Festival and Volunteer from the very beginning of the Festival. Continuously, with absolute dedication and commitment and unfailing presence throughout these years Siobhan has supported and helped develop and build this festival. Every year. She is an artist and has just graduated from St Martins this year.
Donal Lennon
Donal Lennon became a great supporter and volunteer since 2006 Festival and every year he is there to be at the Festival to support it in whatever way he could including his talent as a Photographer.
Emily Cross
Emily has joined the Team this year. She is a qualified librarian and accredited ‘Get Into Reading’ group facilitator who is passionate about working with adults to rebuild their self-confidence and wellbeing through using a range of literature. Has a special interest in group therapy and the positive impact groups have on physical and mental health.
Jack Foley
Jack Foley has just joined us to support the Festival as it seems poetry is has some connection to him.
Kathleen Wainwright