This writing workshop, run by Kobi Essah Ayensuo, will centre queerness, ancestry, and world building. Participants will be encouraged to bring along material to inspire your creative work during the session – that could be a book, a quote from a revolutionary leader, a family photo, a tradition, or a story that needs revival. From this material we will consider how the past forms and creates who are we are how we might write.
Kobi Essah Ayensuo is a poet, musician, playwright, mover and creative of many hats based in London. Their work often explores their black queer, trans identity and coming of age, black queer ancestry, their Ghanaian heritage; navigating relationships and reimagining/decolonising the lens with which black history, black present and black future is told.
Musically, their sound can be described as soulful, alternative and harmonic. Kobi’s work is also a reminder that growing into our skin happens when we listen in to our spirit and look to the ones who came before us. Their work often is soundtracked with vocals, harmonic soundscapes and music - which interweaves with several art forms such as poetry and theatre.
Kobi Essah Ayensuo has been published with Ink Sweat and Tears, South London Gallery, Flipped Eye and Marques Almeida for London Fashion Week 2020. They have performed their work at several venues and festivals across the UK such as Brainchild festival, Wilderness Festival, Mighty Hoopla Festival, the Roundhouse, the Barbican, Disturbance at Ugly Duck and the Southbank Centre.
They are also are a BBC Words First finalist and an alumnus of Barbican Young Poets, The Writing room, the Roundhouse Resident Artist programme, Soho Writers Lab 23/24 and the Obsidian Foundation. Most recently they debuted their Live Art performance ‘In Honour of My Body Spirit and Of Worlds to Come’ which received a standing ovation at Disturbance, at Ugly Duck. At present, they are working on their debut EP.
