Isy Mead – Artistic Director
Isy is our Artistic Director. She joins the Poetry School from The Story Museum in Oxford, where she has been Head of Learning and Participation for eight years, leading a vibrant team of oral storytellers and creative writing teachers. She is a Trustee of Jane Austen House and studies Bengali at SOAS. Isy grew up in Cambridge, and holds Master’s in History of Art at the University of York. A secondary English teacher in Ilford through Teach First, she spent two years living in a rural area of Rwanda with Voluntary Service Overseas. Her debut pamphlet based on this experience, Dear Rwanda, was published in 2023 with Live Canon. Her work has appeared in Magma, Mslexia, The Telegraph, Poetry Wales, Anacapa Review, Poetry News and Ink Sweat & Tears. She has won 8 poetry competitions including the Julian Lennon Poetry Prize (2021), has been twice Highly Commended in the Bridport Prize (2016 and 2019) and was a finalist in the Brotherton Prize (2021).
Lusungu Chikamata – Finance & Operations Director
Lusungu is our Finance & Operations Director. He brings over 10 years’ experience in finance and operations in the start-up sector and most recently at First Story, England’s leading creative writing charity for young people. He has a passion for collaboration, developing and implementing strategic business functions and charities that provide meaningful creative education.
Andrew Parkes – Head of Programmes
[email protected]
Andy is our Head of Programmes. He programmes all of our In-Person, Video, and Online Courses. Andy has a BA in Media & Modern Literature and an MA in Modern Literary Theory, both from Goldsmiths, University of London. He founded the independent poetry press clinic in 2009, has written and produced several works for the theatre, and loves the writing of Mark Z. Danielewski and Deleuzian metaphysics.
Jasmine Ward – Marketing Manager
[email protected]
Jasmine Ward is our Marketing Manager and Laurel Prize Manager; she’s in charge of submissions, partnerships and social media platforms. Jasmine previously managed the Betjeman Poetry Prize, a prize designed to spark creativity in early adolescents. She also has a history in PR and events. When she isn’t working on Laurel she is a freelance writer (specializing in satire), as well as a copywriter and artist.
Maryam Hessavi – Resident Reviews Editor
[email protected]
Maryam is our resident Reviews Editor. She commissions and edits poetry reviews for the School. Outside of this work, Maryam is a freelance writer, poet, critic, and Contributing Editor for Ambit. Her work has featured in various publications and was recently selected for Carcanet’s New Poetries VIII anthology. She is also a member of the Ledbury Poetry Critics.
Tessa Foley – MA in Writing Poetry Manager
[email protected]
Tessa is our MA in Writing Poetry Manager. She is also a poet and her three collections, Chalet Between Thick Ears, What Sort of Bird are You? and Try to Find Me are published with Live Canon. She has also been published in several poetry magazines and prize anthologies and performed her poetry across the UK. Tessa has taught as a university tutor of performance poetry, as a leader of therapeutic poetry-writing groups, and as a facilitator of poetry performance workshops.
Beth Evans – Programmes & Website Administrator
[email protected]
Beth is our Programmes & Website Administrator. She has a BA in English Literature from Newcastle University and is passionate about live music, independent films and creative writing. She has previously worked for the charity Seven Stories: The National Centre for Children’s Books and has a history of working in administration at the Emmerdale Studio Experience.
Sim Pereira-Madder – Editorial & Administration Assistant (Internship)
Sim is our Editorial & Administration Assistant who joined us as part of our partnership with Obsidian Foundation. He works primarily with Beth on administrative and programming projects, and with Maryam on editorial ones. He likes to make spreadsheets and eat cake at regular intervals and when he’s not at Poetry School he wears his bicycle industry hat at Better Health Bikes. His poetry appears in Magma, Ink Sweat & Tears, Propel Magazine, Wet Grain, and La Piccioletta Barca, and he recently wrote and performed his first short play.
Save Save