The past year has seen us all experience huge challenges and significant change. As part of the Bradford Inspired programme, we have commissioned a series of remarkable poets, who bring a range of cultural and artistic perspectives, to create new work that will both reflect on this unique moment in history and look ahead, in hope, to a brighter future.

Each of the poets will work collaboratively with leading visual artists across a range of artforms to bring their words to life, creating a series of moving and inspirational poetry films to be shared with audiences and inspire discussion across the region and beyond. 

The poetry films will be shared with audiences for free right here on the BLF website and are due for release at the end of March 2021.

Bradford Inspired is funded by:

About The Poets

Anthony Anaxagorou

Anthony Anaxagorou is a British-born Cypriot award-winning poet, fiction writer, essayist, publisher, and poetry educator. He has published nine volumes of poetry, a spoken-word EP, and a collection of short stories. He is the founder of Out-Spoken. GB.

 

Steven Camden aka Polarbear

Steven Camden is one of the UK’s most acclaimed spoken word artists. He writes for stage, page and screen, teaches storytelling and leads creative projects all over the place. He has performed his work all around the world from Manchester to Melbourne and Kuala Lumpur to California.

Mahogany L. Browne

Mahogany L. Browne is a writer, organizer & educator. Executive Director of Bowery Poetry Club & Artistic Director of Urban Word NYC & Poetry Coordinator at St. Francis College. She is the author of Woke: A Young Poets Call to Justice, Woke Baby & Black Girl Magic (Macmillan), Kissing Caskets (Yes Yes Books) & Dear Twitter (Penmanship Books). She lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Courtney Sina Meredith

Courtney Sina Meredith is a distinguished author whose work delves into issues such as racism, sexism and poverty and draws on her Sāmoan roots. She is the Director of Tautai, Aotearoa’s leading Pacific arts organisation. Her award-winning books include her play Rushing Dolls, poetry Brown Girls in Bright Red Lipstick, short stories Tail of the Taniwha and children’s book The Adventures of Tupaia.

Tehzeeb Hafi

Tehzeeb Hafi is a prominent young poet whose modern take on Urdu poetry has earned him a huge Facebook and YouTube following amongst young people. He did his MA in Urdu from Bahawalpur University after doing software engineering from Mehran University, and is now based in Lahore.

About The Artists

One6th Animation Studio

One6th was founded in 2018 by a team of animation artists, filmmakers and producers. Together they believe that stop-motion has the power to inspire audiences of all ages. They put story at the heart of everything they do, exploring new aesthetics with each new project and combining it with the traditions, imagination and expression of stop-motion animation.

Louis Murrall

Lou Murrall is a freelancer Director of Photography and Cinematographer. Having been in the film industry for over 10 years he’s had experience in feature film, branded content and music videos. Coming from humble beginnings, raised on the tough Bromford Estate in Birmingham, from a young age he had an urge for movie making. Originally having a life long job for Birmingham City Council in the IT Department, he took the ultimate risk to make the transition into the film world. Gaining knowledge with cinema cameras and lenses Lou has worked on international projects with top brands such as Aston Villa, Universal Music and many others.

Jive Poetic

Jive Poetic is a writer, filmmaker, and educator based in Brooklyn, New York. He received his BA in Media Studies from the State University of New York at Buffalo, and his MFA in Writing and Activism from Pratt Institute. In 2017, Jive was the first recipient of the John Morning Award for Art and Service. He is the founder of Insurgent Poets Society, Carnival Slam: Cultural Exchange, and the co-founder of Brooklyn Poetry Slam. His work has been showcased on season four of TVONE’s Lexus Verses and Flow, PBS News Hour, and BET. His poems have been published by the Academy of American Poets, No, Dear Magazine, and Toss the Earth. When he is not touring or hosting, Jive teaches performance poetry and hip – hop workshops to at-risk youth in New York City and surrounding tri-state area.