Friday 26 April 2013

Inua Ellams at TEDxEuston 2012

Inua Ellams describes himself as word and graphic artist, but we were not sure what to expect until he took to the stage and held the room spellbound with some of the most amazing poetry we have been privileged to listen to. With a combination of poise and confidence this calm poet (sorry - word artist!) took us on a journey so powerful that the audience was oooing and aaing at the end. Much love Inua - There's a lot more to come from you!





Re-live the moments of brilliance here.

Inua Ellams was born in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria in 1984. He works as a poet, playwright, performer and graphic designer/artist. He has seven books published including ‘Thirteen Fairy Negro Tales’ (Poetry, Flipped Eye, 2005) ‘The 14th Tale’ (Play, Flipped Eye, 2009) - which was commissioned by the Battersea Arts Centre and awarded a Fringe First at the Edinburgh Festival, before a sold out run at The National Theatre in London. His third theatre piece, ‘Black T-Shirt Collection’ (Play, Oberon, 2012) also ran at the National Theatre this year and will be touring this autumn. His poems were included in anthologies: Generation Txt (Penned in the Margins, 2006), City State (Penned in the Margins, 2009), The Salt Book of Younger Poets (Salt, 2011), The Shuffle Anthology (Shuffle, 2011 Press). His second pamphlet of poetry Candy Coated Unicorns and Converse All Stars (Flipped Eye, 2011) came out last November and he is currently working on a Radio play for the BBC about a dysfunctional Nigerian werewolf family, living in South London. None of these things really say much about Inua’s personality, but he he promises he is a nice guy. ‘Trust me…’ he says ‘… I’m Nigerian’. 

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