flipped eye publishing
author profiles
2009/2010
List of Authors Niki Aguirre /fiction Charlotte Ansell /poetry Sefi Atta * /fiction Nina Badahur * /poetry Malika Booker /poetry Ainsley Burrows /poetry & fiction Joseph Coelho * /poetry Martin de Mello * /poetry Zena Edwards /poetry & drama Inua Ellams /poetry Salena Godden * /poetry Jessica Horn /poetry Nicholas Makoha /poetry Aoife Mannix /fiction Agnes Meadows /poetry Niall O’Sullivan /poetry Nii Ayikwei Parkes /poetry Janett Plummer /poetry Camilla Reeve /poetry l k robinson /poetry Roger Robinson /poetry & fiction Jacob Sam-La Rose /poetry Denise Saul /poetry Leila Segal * /fiction Ekere Tallie /poetry Truth Thomas /poetry Laura Webb * /poetry * release not yet scheduled
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To find out more about any of the authors listed, please click on their names or click on one of the thumbnails below.
Contact Details:
To book any of our authors for a reading/festival, please contact us on bookings [at] flippedeye [dot] net. There is no set fee for booking our authors and arrangements are made by negotiation in collaboration with our marketing team. To find out more about existing or forthcoming titles, send us an e-mail on books [at] flippedeye [dot] net. Thank You.
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fiction
Niki Aguirre
was born in the United States to Ecuadorian parents. She spent her childhood between Chicago and Guayaquil, lived in Spain in her late teens and studied English Literature at The University of Illinois. Her short stories have appeared in three anthologies edited or introduced by Sarah Waters, Julia Bell and Tash Aw respectively as well as in PEN International Magazine. 29 Ways to Drown is her first collection of short stories. Latest Book: 29 Ways to Drown (2007) Accolades: Selected as a writer for the future by International PEN, Frank O’Connor Award (Longlist, 2007) Performances at: Poetry Café (London), California State University, Los Angeles Festivals: Brooklyn Book Festival, Free the Word Festival (London) Based in: London
poetry Charlo�e Ansell juggles a full-
time job and motherhood with her creative output, but remains incredibly accomplished. She has read her work for audiences in London, Oxford, Cheltenham, Leamington Spa and Birmingham and has appeared at major festivals such as the Cheltenham Literature Festival. Charlotte writes unflinchingly on difficult topics, investing in them an emotion and intensity that has won her a loyal following since the release of her first collection, you were for the poem. Latest Book: After Rain (2008) Accolades: Newbury All-Comers Slam (Winner, 2003) Performances at: Poetry Café (London), Oxford House (London), The Zodiac (Oxford) Festivals: Spit-Lit Festival, Redbridge Literature Festival, Refugee Sanctuary Festival, Cheltenham Literature Festival, LIFT Festival Based in: Rotherham
poetry Malika Booker
has appeared worldwide both independently and with the British Council. She appeared in the BBC 3 poetry series Whine Gums and featured in the spoken word projects, Bittersweet, modern love and Kin – a show incorporating words, music and visuals. Her work in film and drama has featured in commissions for the Royal Festival Hall and NITRO who produced her musical play, Catwalk, at the Tricycle Theatre in 2001. Malika jointly runs Malika’s Kitchen, an international writers’ collective, and her latest play, Unplanned, opened in spring 2007, with a run at Battersea Arts Centre.
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Latest Book: Breadfruit (2008) Accolades: Hampton Court Palace WriterIn-Residence (2004), International Writers Fellowship (India, 2005) Performances at: Arvon Centre (Lumb Bank), National Theatre (London), The Barbican (London), Battersea Arts Centre (London) Festivals: Lancaster Litfest, Slovenia City of Women Festival, Oxfam Poetry Festival (London), Ignite Festival (New Zealand) Based in: London
poetry Ainsley Burrows
is a former member of the world famous NuYorican Poets Café poetry slam team, and one of the finer surrealist poets of his generation. He announced his arrival as a multidimensional language stylist with the release of his defining début collection of poetry Black Angels with Sky Blue Feathers, and has since read at several venues worldwide – including universities and colleges – gaining a loyal following in the process. A former coach of the NuYorican Poets Café National Poetry Slam Team, Ainsley has been featured in the New York Times and has recorded five CDs of his spoken word including Rockstar and Evolver. He is at work on his first novel, Land of Our Birth.
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Latest Book: The Wolf Who Cried Boy (2008) Accolades: Munich International Poetry Slam Championship (2001), Farrago Best International Performer (2001, 2002) Performances at: NuYorican Poets Café, Julliard School of Music (New York), The Albany (London) Festivals: Brooklyn Book Festival, Lancaster Litfest, Wordstock Festival (New York) Based in: New York
E poetry
Zena Edwards
has performed worldwide and has shared the stage – and been published in anthologies – with some of her most admired predecessors: Linton Kwesi Johnson, Sonia Sanchez, Lemn Sissay, Jean Binta Breeze and Roger McGough. Her work encompasses poetry and song and is often inspired by travel, particularly in Africa. She has produced work for several BBC radio broadcasts, as well as short films for Sky Digital. Zena has produced two CDs – Healing Pool and Mine 4 Life, written lyrics for the acclaimed theatre production, SlamDunk, and toured her own one-woman show, Security.
Latest Book: Security (2009) Accolades: Poetry Café Poet-In-Residence (2004), Arts Foundation Award for Performance Poetry (Finalist, 2007) Performances at: Royal Festival Hall, Def Poetry Jam, NuYorican Poets Café Festivals: London Jazz Festival, Poetry International (London), URB Hip Hop Festival (Helsinki), Glastonbury Festival, Aldeburgh Poetry Festival Based in: London
poetry
poetry
Inua Ellams,
one of the UK’s bestselling young poets, has performed at venues including the prestigious Royal Festival Hall as well as written libretti on commission for the Royal Opera House. With a voice inspired as much by hip hop as the work of icons such as Keats and Soyinka, his work appears in magazines such as Trespass and X Magazine, and he has been featured in The Times, Prospect Magazine and The Guardian. Inua has also appeared on BBC’s Politics Show and hosts New Blood – a poetry night for emerging writers at the Poetry Café. Latest Book: Thirteen Fairy Negro Tales (limited edition, 2008) Accolades: Farrago New Year Poetry Slam Champion (2005), LSC Poetry Slam Champion Performances at: The Albany (London), The Drum (Birmingham), Tobacco Factory (Bristol). Festivals: London Literature Festival, Glastonbury Festival, Latitude Festival (Southwold) Based in: London
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Jessica Horn
works as a women’s rights activist. Born to a Ugandan mother and American father she has lived in Lesotho, the Fiji Islands, the UK and the USA and her work instinctively reflects an international perspective. She won the Sojourner Poetry Prize, judged by June Jordan, in 2001 for her poem ‘Dis UN: For Rwanda’ and published her pamphlet Speaking in Tongues five years later. Latest Book: Speaking in Tongues (2006) Accolades: Sojourner Poetry Prize (2001) Performances at: Poetry Café (London), Borders (London) Based in: Sierra Leone
poetry Nicholas Makoha
was born in Uganda and has lived in Kenya, Saudi Arabia and the UK. He has presented his work at many international events and toured for the British Council in Finland, Czech Republic, the US and the Netherlands. One of ten contemporary poets in the UK to have been selected for Spread the Word’s ‘Complete Works’ development programme, Nick is the director of the Youth Poetry Network through which he provides a charismatic approach to workshop facilitation in schools. His clients include the London-Chicago Teenage Poetry Slams, the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) and Creative Partnerships.
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Latest Book: The Lost Collection of an Invisible Man (2005) Accolades: Arts Council Award for writers, Complete Works (Finalist, 2008) Performances at: Stratford Theatre Royal (London), Green Mill (Chicago), Poetry Café (London) Festivals: BTHD Festival (London), Ilkley Literature Festival, DeNachten Festival (Antwerp) Based in: London
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M fiction
Aoife Mannix
was born in Stockholm of Irish parents, grew up in Dublin, Ottawa and New York. A former editor for the BBC drama series Holby City, she has published four books; The Trick of Foreign Words (2002), The Elephant in the Corner (2005), Growing Up an Alien (2007) and the recent Turn the Clocks Upside Down – all with the tall-lighthouse press. She has also written two drama documentaries for BBC Radio 4. Aoife’s short stories appear in the anthologies, Tell Tales Vol. 3 (2006), Small Voices, Big Confessions (2006) and Westside Stories (2003), and her TV sitcom Since Dad Left was shortlisted for the BBC’s Two Timing competition in 2004. Latest Book: Heritage of Secrets (2008) Accolades: Greenwich Peninsula WriterIn-Residence (2008), BBC Two Timing Competition (Shortlist, 2004) Performances at: Royal Festival Hall, Poetry Café (London), Contact Theatre (Manchester), Battersea Arts Centre (London), Patravadi Theatre (Thailand) Festivals: Ledbury Festival, Folkestone Literature Festival, Edinburgh Festival Based in: London
poetry
poetry
Agnes Meadows
has performed and led poetry workshops and residencies in Turkey, Spain, Israel and Palestine. Her writing derives mainly from musings on history, memory, everyday beauty and struggle, but it often explores identity and the nature of friendship. Agnes has held residencies in all of the Universities on the West Bank (via British Council) and is the most featured international poet at the Austin International Poetry Festival. She has also been an advisor on poetry for Channel 4 TV (UK) and has produced five collections of poetry and two CDs – including Quantum Love, Woman, At Damascus Gate on Good Friday and Blues Shakin’ My Heels. Latest Book: This One Is For You (2008) Accolades: Christina Sergeyevna Award (2003, 2006), Farrago Best Performer Award (1998, 1999) Performances at: Poetry Café (London), Battersea Arts Centre (London) Festivals: Austin International Poetry Festival, Redbridge Festival Based in: London
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Niall O’Sullivan
has performed poetry since 1997, featuring alongside the likes of Hugo Williams, Roddy Lumsden, Zena Edwards, Phill Jupitus and Pete Doherty. Born of Irish parents in England, he grew up in Slough, studied Art in Bath and is a former council gardener. Not surprisingly, his interests range from botany to astronomy, but it is his versatility and willingness to experiment that have seen him featured all over Europe and win acclaim for both of his poetry collections. Niall’s first collection, you’re not singing anymore, became a 20th Century poetry bestseller on Amazon.co.uk and his second saw him highly commended by the Forward Prize judges. Latest Book: Ventriloquism for Monkeys (2007) Accolades: Forward Prize (Highly Commended, 2008) Performances at: Poetry Café (London), Borders (Birmingham) Festivals: Folkestone Literature Festival, Roskilde Festival, Cheltenham Literature Festival, Berlin Literature Festival, Bristol Literature Festival, Bath Literature Festival, Penzance Literature Festival Based in: London
poetry Nii Ayikwei Parkes
has performed poetry in the UK, Europe, Ghana and the US, featuring at several festivals internationally. Senior editor with flipped eye publishing, he was writerin-residence at California State University, Los Angeles in 2007, and International Writing Fellow at the University of Southampton in 2008. He is one of the youngest living writers to be featured in the Poems on the Underground programme in London for his poem ‘Tin Roof,’ which is taken from his pamphlet, eyes of a boy, lips of a man. Nii is also the author of the novel Tail of the Blue Bird (Jonathan Cape).
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Accolades: Poetry Café Poet-In-Residence (2003), BBC Radio 3 Associate Artist-inResidence (2005), UK Young Publishing Entrepreneur (Shortlist, 2009) Performances at: NuYorican (New York), Royal Festival Hall (London), Java (Paris) Festivals: Berlin Literature Festival, Austin International Poetry Festival, Folkestone Literature Festival, Manchester Literature Festival, Roskilde Festival, Lancaster LitFest Based in: Manchester
P poetry
Jane�
Plummer
is an accomplished performer, a multislam winner and has performed at venues such as the Barbican, the Poetry Café and Paradiso (Amsterdam). Her work, soaked in narrative and rich imagery, is featured in many anthologies including Flowers on a Shoestring and A Storm Between Fingers (flipped eye, 2007). Janett is the founder of Inspired Word – a women’s writing collective, and she leads poetry and creative writing workshops for children and adults. Latest Book: Lifemarks (2009) Accolades: Gwendolyn Brooks Annual Award (2005) Performances at: The Tate Modern (London), Recreation Rooms (Chicago) Festivals: Spit-Lit Festival Based in: London
poetry Camilla Reeve
poetry
was born in London, and, in spite of extensive travel, it continues to lend a defining undercurrent to her work; she returns often to its problems of homelessness, pollution, noise and isolation within the crowd. She has previously self-published Travels of a Spider, a collection that focuses on human rights, war and the environment. Travelling East by Road and Soul is Camilla’s first book for flipped eye publishing. Latest Book: Travelling East by Road and Soul (2009) Based in: London
l k robinson
has been writing poetry since 1988, inspired by a TV programme on the poet George Barker and his work has since appeared in a number of magazines - Smiths Knoll, Shrike, The Wolf, Manifold, Fire, Brittle Star, X Magazine. He has read his work extensively at a variety of reading series including The Cellar, Fourcast, Tongues & Groove - Portsmouth, Blackheath Poetry Society, Diorama Arts and London’s Speakeasy. l k runs talllighthouse publishing and is the author of two full collections of poetry, the first of which is his acclaimed debut winterburn. Latest Book: you say it’s been good (2007) Performances at: Poetry Café, Whitechapel Gallery Based in: London
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poetry Roger Robinson
is a skilled performer, workshop leader and lecturer on poetry and performance, having toured with the British Council in Vietnam, the Philippines, Argentina, India and the Czech Republic. He has received commissions from Stratford Theatre Royal East, The National Trust, London Open House, National Portrait Gallery, LIFT and The Tate, and his workshops have been shortlisted for the Gulbenkian Prize for Museums and Galleries. Roger’s oeuvre encompasses the one-man shows: Shadow Boxer; Letter from My Father’s Brother; and Prohibition; a book of short fiction, Adventures in 3D; an album of spoken folk, illclectica (Altered Vibes, 2004) and two poetry collections: Suitcase (2004) and the recently completed Suckle.
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Latest Book: Suckle (2009) Performances at: Battersea Arts Centre (London), Tate Modern (London), Mercury Lounge (Ottawa), Royal Festival Hall (London) Festivals: Literature Forum (Hannover), 7Fest (London), Naples Poetry Festival, Greenwich International Festival, Wordstock Festival (New York) Based in: Northampton / Trinidad
S poetry
Jacob Sam-La Rose
is a former poet in residence for BBC London Live. He has also been a British Council sponsored writer within Europe and in South Asia; a featured poet on a Gilles Peterson Worldwide Poetry Special (Radio 1); and a speaker at conferences on the teaching of poetry in schools and communities. Jacob’s work has appeared in Sable Litmag, X Magazine and Trespass, and he has facilitated workshops for: the National Theatre, the Arvon Foundation, the Learning Trust, the University of Botswana, Raffles Institute (Singapore), and the University of Chicago. He placed second in the London Poetry Society’s Poetry Slam in 1999 and won the PBS Pamphlet choice award for Communion. Latest Book: Communion (2006) Accolades: Poetry Society’s Poetry Slam (Runner Up, 1999) PBS Pamphlet Choice Award (Winner, 2006) Performances at: Roundhouse (London), Mylos Theatre (Greece), Barbican (London), Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art (Finland) Festivals: Folkestone Literature Festival, Aldeburgh Poetry Festival, The Singapore Writers’ Festival, URB Festival (Helsinki), Bay Lit Festival (Cardiff), Bath Literature Festival Based in: London
poetry
poetry
Denise Saul
won the George Viner Trust award for journalism in 1992 while working for Caribbean Times. She switched her focus to poetry as a member of the Malika’s Kitchen writers collective and released her debut pamphlet, White Narcissi, in 2007. Displaying a distinct voice that pulses with pregnant brevity, she won a PBS Pamphlet Choice Award in 2007 and has gone on to feature at several poetry reading series and festivals. Denise is currently researching literature that focuses on black and Jewish writers. Latest Book: White Narcissi (2007) Accolades: PBS Pamphlet Choice Award (Winner, 2007) Performances at: Poetry Café (London) Festivals: 7Fest, Spit-Lit Festival Based in: London
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Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie’s poetry and fiction have
been published in several journals including Crab Orchard Review, Bomb, Long Shot, Paris/Atlantic, and Carapace; they have also been anthologized in Catch The Fire!!! (Penguin/Putnam) and Bum Rush The Page: A Def Poetry Jam (Random House). A staff writer for African Voices literary magazine since 1995, she was awarded the artist’s residency at Fundacion Valparaiso in Almeria, Spain in 1999. Her debut collection of poetry, Karma’s Footsteps, will be released in 2011. Latest Book: Karma’s Footsteps (2011) Accolades: Fundacion Valparaiso Artist’s Residency (1999) Performances at: Poetry Café (London), Palabras (Holland), Nuyorican Poets Cafe (New York), Brooklyn Public Library (New York) Festivals: De Nachten Festivals (Holland/ Belgium), Panasonic Village Jazz Festival Based in: New York
poetry Truth Thomas
grew up in Washington, DC and studied creative writing at Howard University with Dr. Tony Medina and E. Ethelbert Miller. His audacious first pamphlet, Party of Black, not only unveiled Truth’s eloquent, politically-charged voice, but also a poetic form of his own invention - the Skinny. Truth went on to earn a M.F.A. from New England College in 2008 and is currently Writer-inResidence for the Howard County Poetry and Literary Society in Maryland. His work has appeared in many journals and anthologies, including: African Voices, Art Times, The Henniker Review, Maine Channel Voices, New Verse News, Poet Lore, Pluck!, The Progressive, Quiddity Literary Journal, The Ringing Ear: Black Poets Lean South, Warpland Literary Journal, and X Magazine.
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Latest Book: A Day of Presence (2008) Accolades: Writer-in-Residence for Howard County Poetry and Literary Society Performances at: Bowery Poetry Club (New York), Busboys & Poets (DC) Festivals: Brooklyn Book Festival Based in: Washington DC
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Shortlisted for the IPG Diversity Award 2006 Senior Editor shortlisted for the UKYPE Award 2009