C+NTO

Joelle Taylor is an award-winning poet, playwright and author. A fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a Saboteur Spoken Word Artist of the Year (2022), Taylor is the host and co-curator of Out-Spoken, the UK’s premier poetry and music club, currently resident at the Southbank Centre. A former UK slam champion, she founded SLAMbassadors, the UK’s youth slam championships, in 2001 and was its Artistic Director and National Coach until 2018. Taylor is the author of three plays, a forthcoming novel and four poetry collections, including C+nto & Othered Poems, which won the 2021 T. S. Eliot Prize and was longlisted for the 2021 Ondaatje Prize. Her documentary Butch was recently featured on BBC Radio 4.

'Joelle Taylor has produced one of the most astonishing and original poetry collections of recent years.' Bernardine Evaristo, New Statesman Books of the Year 2021;'A real treat ... inventive, powerfully moving work.' The Telegraph;'Visionary and powerful. I loved it.' Hollie McNish;'Absolutely incredible ... A celebration and a tribute to the dyke bars and the butches who left their mark ... This is work that should not be missed.' Diva Magazine, Book of the Month;'A reclamation and a proclamation. A book and a performance. A roll call and a remembrance. A tribute and a critique, not just for the Lesbian community, but for anyone who has had to struggle to establish their life and identity. A powerful celebration of an important culture.' Roger Robinson;'An altar of a book. Joelle Taylor has an unmatched gift as a poet, memoirist and chronicler.'Inua Ellam; 'A work of fearsome imaginative and creative reach ... sonorous and soaring poetry.'Fran Lock, Culture Matters;