Lyrical Mehfil

John Siddique is an author, photographer, and sacred teacher. He is the author of nine books, including Signposts of The Spiritual Journey, SO: Collected New Poems 2011–21, and the widely loved children’s collection Don’t Wear It on Your Head. His writing and photography explore conscience, humanity, and the sacred within ordinary life.

His work has been featured in Time, The Guardian, Granta, The Tablet, and on BBC Radio 3 and 4. He is Project Co-ordinator for the Royal Literary Fund and WritersMosaic North of England.

More at JohnSiddique.com and AuthenticLiving.life.

Catherine Redford is a poet and scholar whose Forward-nominated debut collection, The Way the Water Held Me, explores young widowhood, grief and motherhood. A Magma Selected Poet, Redford’s work has appeared in Under the Radar, Propel and Lighthouse. Redford is an editor at Dust Poetry magazine and has published widely on Romantic and Victorian literature, particularly Mary Shelley and the Gothic. 

Hanan Issa is a Welsh-Iraqi writer, artist and the National Poet of Wales. Issa’s work spans poetry, prose, theatre, film and animation, including the award-winning collection My Body Can House Two Hearts and children’s anthology And I Hear Dragons. Issa contributed to Channel 4’s We Are Lady Parts, was Hay International Fellow in 2023, and received an Honorary Doctorate from Bangor University in 2025. 

Aditya Narayan is an Edinburgh-based poet originally from India, writing across cultures, identities, and languages. Performing in the UK for the past two years, he won the 2025 Roundhouse Poetry Slam and Audience Choice Award, before going on to win the 2025 Loud Poets Grand Slam out of more than 100 competing across Scotland and England. In 2026, he became the Scottish National Slam Champion and represented Scotland at the Poetry Slam World Cup in Paris. Aditya’s work has appeared on BBC Radio 4, including on Jumoke Fashola’s Poetry Corner and Ian McMillan’s The Verb. He is currently working on his first poetry pamphlet, titled My Name is a Two-Person Sport, scheduled for release in August 2026.

Len Pennie is a poet who writes predominantly in the Scots language. She writes passionately about the promotion of minority languages, survivors of domestic abuse, and the destigmatisation of mental illness. Her debut poetry collection Poyums shot straight to the top of the best sellers list immediately upon publication.

Tigist is a celebrated poet in Ethiopia and the founder of Kinerbet, a London based arts and entertainment company that champions cultural expression and storytelling.