Inua Ellams, one of the most outstanding personalities of the very latest London artistic scene visits Segovia within the Hay festival 2019 in conversation with Peter Florence, director of Hay Festivals in the world.
Poet, performer, playwright and visual artist, his works, commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company and the BBC and performed at the National Theatre (such as The Barber Shop Chronicles) address the theme of origins through a combination of humour and direct story telling. Inua is a Member of the Royal Society of Literature and ambassador of the Ministry of Stories, an organization that fosters the potential as writers of adolescents between 8 and 18 years old. After publishing four books of poetry and receiving the Fringe First prize for his first play The 14th Tale at the Edinburgh International Theatre Festival, his play The Barber Shop Chronicles ran as “sold out” at the prestigious National Theatre. His most recent work, The Half God of Rainfall, combining Greek, Nigerian and basketball mythology in verse, opened in March 2019 at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre to great critical acclaim. In addition to his intense graphic and literary production, he created the Midnight Run, a walking, arts-filled, night-time cultural journey through urban spaces taking place from sunset to sunrise, as well as devising R.A.P. parties that combine poetry slam with urban music.