The Scottish Contingent

Having been part of the Scottish Spoken Word scene for the last decade I am often left frustrated at how often the incredible talent that exists up this end of the border is overlooked when it comes to major festivals and events. So you can imagine how happy I was to see not only myself and Mark Gallie invited back this year but also some of my favourite Scottish poets!

This years Glastonbury Poet in Residence is the incredible…

Katie Ailes – Poet in Residence

Katie Ailes is a poet, producer, researcher, educator, and dancer based in Edinburgh.

She has performed her poetry at festivals and events across the UK and Europe including with the Scottish Government, Prague Fringe, the Centre for Poetic Innovation, Apples & Snakes, Brighton Fringe, the Edinburgh International Book Festival, and more. Her poetry has been published widely and her poem ‘Outwith’ was chosen as one of the Scottish Poetry Library’s Best of the Best Scottish Poems in 2019.

Since 2015 Katie has worked as a producer with I Am Loud Productions (home of Loud Poets), co-organising hundreds of spoken word events, videos, podcasts, and other projects. In 2022 she hosted the podcast Building Stories with I Am Loud, commissioned by Edinburgh City of Literature, celebrating historic Edinburgh women writers.

As a researcher, Katie focuses on spoken word poetry, the literature of Scottish independence, feminism, and Carol Ann Duffy. Her 2020 PhD focused on the performance of authenticity in contemporary UK spoken word. She has taught university-level English and Creative Writing and facilitated digital poetry workshops, including the Loud Poets Return to Form series.

Katie is also a classically trained dancer and choreographer interested in the intersection between speech and movement. In 2022 she created two new choreopoems reimagining maligned women from Scottish literature and mythology, “Cutty Sark” (commissioned by the Scottish Storytelling Centre and Edinburgh City of Literature) and “Bean Nighe” (commissioned by Push the Boat Out Festival).

Leyla Josephine

Leyla Josephine is a poet, theatre practitioner and filmmaker, originally from Glasgow, now residing in Prestwick. She first started writing poetry in 2013 and won the Hammer and Tongue UK National Slam which catapulted her into the world of Spoken Word.

Her solo theatre shows Hopeless and Daddy Drag have been toured throughout the UK. Hopeless was runner up for Saboteur’s Best Spoken Word Show 2018. Daddy Drag won the Autopsy Award 2019 which celebrates artists making ground-breaking work in Scotland. It was also shortlisted for Filipa Braganca Award 2019, which honours solo female artists creating important work at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Leyla released her book Hopeless with Speculative Books which is a documentation of her solo show of the same name. She has been included in American anthology about abortion called Choice Words: Writers On Abortions alongside the likes Margaret Atwood, Audre Lorde and Gloria Steinem. She has been featured in Gutter Magazine, Neu! Reekies! anthology Untitled 3 and The Centenary Collection for Edwin Morgan. She  has been featured in The National, The Scotsman, The Guardian, Huffington Post, Upworthy, BBC Scotland, BBC Radio 4 and BBC Social.

Leyla has extensive experience as a facilitator and project leader working in lots of different social contexts creating poetry and theatre with participants. She was Schools Writer in Residence 2020 for Edinburgh International Book Festival. In 2019 she performed for the First Minister of Scotland and supported John Cooper Clarke on his Scottish tour. She has been on the same bill as the likes of Kae Tempest, Lowkey and Hollie McNish. Her poem ‘Good with our Hands’ was named as one of Scottish Poetry Library’s Best Scottish Poems 2020. She was named in The List’s Top 100 Artists To Watch in 2019 and again in 2022. 

Leyla is also a film maker with her first short film Groom nominated for a Scottish BAFTA and Critics Circle Award and winning First Prize for Direction at Flickers Film Festival which is Academy Affiliated.

Iona Lee

Iona Lee is an award-winning poet, performer, artist and music-maker from Edinburgh. She has been a prominent member of Scotland’s live poetry scene for ten years, appearing on radio and television and reading her work in venues and on festival stages all over the UK and Europe. Her anticipated debut collection, ‘Anamnesis’ – due to be published by Polygon in August of this year – has been included in Snack Magazine’s list of the top ten books coming out of Scotland in 2023, and was shortlisted for the Edwin Morgan Award. Iona’s work deals with themes surrounding memory, magic, truth and tale-telling, and was described by Liz Lochead as: “Youthful, sexy, sharp, ferally female and funny”.

Rounding off the list with her amazing show ‘Spark’ is…

Sarah Grant – Spark

Sarah is a writer, director, performer and poet based in Glasgow. Her first short film, ‘The Cyclist’ (2014), was nominated for a BAFTA Scotland New Talent Award and her most recent short ‘Scare’ (2019) gained BAFTA Qualifying status and has been awarded feature film development funding. Sarah has created short-form work for BBC The Social and BBC Short Stuff, featuring female fronted comedy, gaining tens of millions of views across digital and social media. Her poetry work has also appeared on multiple BBC platforms. Her debut spoken word show “Spark” won Best Spoken Word Show at the 2021 Saboteur Awards. Her most recent show “Oracles” was commissioned by the Scottish International Storytelling Festival. Sarah is a Sky Academy Arts Scholar, National Poetry Slam Championship 2021 runner-up and on the Young Women’s Movement 30-Under-30 list of influential women in Scotland. She is currently taking steps towards writing long form for film and television part of programmes including the EIFF Talent Lab and UKTV Comedy 50:50 pilot initiative, and she has long form work in development with BBC Studios and Short Circuit. She is also part of the BAFTA Flare initiative for queer film and tv creatives 2023. Sarah is committed to creating body positive, sex positive and inclusive female-led stories that are honest, feminist and fearless.