We cannot talk about poetry without first talking about class. Inspired by her essay in Smashing It* this lecture-workshop will discuss the obstacles that working class writers need to navigate to gain full access to the arts, to literary platforms and to publishing. A series of poetry and creative writing exercises focused on developing craft will conclude the talk.

*Smashing It – Working Class Artists on Life, Arts & Making It Happen, edited Sabrina Mahfouz

Joelle Taylor is an award-winning poet, playwright, author and contributor to ‘Smashing It: Working Class Artists in Life, Art and Making It Happen’. She has performed across the UK as well as internationally, both for the British Council (Zimbabwe, Brazil, Botswana, Australia and Singapore) and on solo projects across Europe. She has read in a diverse range of venues from the 100 Club, the 02 Arena, the Royal Festival Hall and Ronnie Scott’s to the Royal Court, the Globe, the ICA, Buckingham Palace and various prisons including Pentonville and Holloway. She has published three full collections of poetry: Ska Tissue (2011, Mother Foucault Press), The Woman Who Was Not There (2014, Burning Eye Books), and her latest collection Songs My Enemy Taught Me (2017, Out-Spoken Press).