Guest readers Jasmine Cooray, William Wyld and Tom Bland hosted by Pauline Sewards.
Tom Bland has two books out, Camp Fear and The Death of a Clown, with Bad Betty Press. He studied experimental theatre and has a special interest in how it intersects with poetry and occultism.
William Wyld is a poet and multi-disciplinary artist from South London. They have performed at the Saison Poetry Library, Wilderness festival and Wandsworth Arts Fringe, and been published in Lighthouse, Queer Life Queer Love II, and The Live Canon Sonnet Anthology. In 2024 they were shortlisted in both the Bridport Prize and National Poetry Competition. William's paintings have been exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Show and Discerning Eye, and their costumes and scenery have appeared in a number of independent films and in art and theatre installations accross the UK. They are a current member of the Southbank Centre New Poets Collective.
instagram: @williamwyld_artist
Jasmine Cooray is a poet, psychotherapist and facilitator. After spending her 20s oversharing on London’s poetry circuit, she had the opportunity to deliver creative writing projects for The Barbican, The Southbank Centre, First Story, the National Literacy Trust and Arvon. She has also been a WOW Festival speaker, BBC Performing Arts Fellow, and Writer-in-Residence at the National University of Singapore. Her debut poetry collection ‘Inheritance’ was published with Bad Betty Press in November 2023, received a Poetry Book Society Recommendation, and has been shortlisted in the 2024 Forward Prize. She can often be found up a tree, dancing to Mariah, making a venn diagram, or elaborately collaging a bird.
