May Swenson (1913–1989)

May’s parents were Swedish immigrants to Utah and English was her second language. Although they struggled to accept that she was lesbian, she remained close to her Mormon family all her life. May moved to New York in the 1930s and worked in academia and publishing before focusing on her own writing. She published collections of poetry for both adults and children during her lifetime, and several more were published posthumously. Her work won numerous awards, and she was a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets from 1980 to 1989.

The Centaur is here.

Sara Teasdale (1884–1933)

Sara’s poetry was hugely successful, and she won the first Pulitzer Prize in 1918 (when it was called the Columbia Poetry Prize). She had many suitors, including a poet, Vachel Lindsay, who felt he couldn’t support her financially, so she married and later divorced another man instead. Afterwards, she rekindled her friendship with Lindsay, who was by now married with children. Two years after his death, Sara sadly took her own life.

On the South Downs is here.

Kae Tempest (born 1985)

Kae was born in London in 1985. Their work includes the plays Wasted, Glasshouse and Hopelessly Devoted; the poetry collections Hold Your Own and Running Upon the Wires; the albums Everybody Down, Balance and Let Them Eat Chaos; the long poems Brand New Ancients and Let Them Eat Chaos; and their debut novel, The Bricks that Built the Houses. They were nominated for the Mercury Music prize for their debut album, Everybody Down, and received the Ted Hughes Award and a Herald Angel Award for Brand New Ancients. Kae was also named a Next Generation poet in 2014. The cypher is here.

Sophia Thakur (born 1996)

Sophia is one of the most recognizable figures in UK performance poetry today, with a large following on YouTube and social media. She has collaborated with the likes of MTV, NIKE, TEDx and BET, and performed at some of the UK’s biggest music festivals and venues, including Glastonbury and Tate Britain. Her first poetry collection, Somebody Give This Heart a Pen, was published in October 2019.

When to Write is here.

Michelle Tiwo

Michelle is an actor, poet, spoken word educator and founder of Sistren podcast. Their work featured in Barbican Young Poets 2016, and they have been commissioned by organizations including the Royal College of Art and The Floating Showroom. Michelle’s work is reflective of their identity and their communities: Nigeria and Togo via South East London. Recent acting credits include Parakeet, Ackee and Saltfish on BBC3, And The Rest of Me Floats at the Bush Theatre and The Ting for Channel 4 Random Acts.

Maybe I’ll Be The First is here.

Katharine Towers (born 1961)

Katharine has published two poetry collections. The Floating Man won the Seamus Heaney Centre Prize, and The Remedies was shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot Prize. Katharine’s poems have been widely published and read on BBC Radio 3 and 4, and one of the poems from The Floating Man was selected as a Poem on the Underground in London. Katharine teaches poetry workshops for the Poetry Society and at universities and literary festivals.