DJ D-Vox
D-Vox AKA Daniela Rhodes has been a DJ for over 15 years and has been influenced by artists across genres and eras. From mixing hard dance in her bedroom, inspired by Tiesto, she now explores house, techno, drum and bass, disco, breaks and more. D-Vox is also a versatile vocalist/lyricist & has developed a unique ability to accompany instrumentals within her DJ sets with her original, live vocals.
She hosts live show 'D-Vox & Guests' on Bournemouth’s number one, live streaming internet radio station Afro*disiac Live Radio every second Friday of the month from 8pm, having also aired shows on Voice FM 103.9 and Progressive Beats Radio. She has held a three month residency out in The Maldives and has also begun making her mark in Ibiza and Ayia Napa over the last few years.
With a packed local and national gig diary, radio show guests booked until 2020, producers in a queue waiting for vocals for their upcoming releases, plus her new positions as an event reviewer for Data Transmission and A & R Representative for Koda Recordings sub labels Koda DnB and Koda Hard, Daniela has her foot firmly on the pedal towards achieving her potential.
Who knows where her talents will take her as she continues to surprise audiences and collaborators alike with her versatility, dedication and determination to share great music as far and wide as she can spread it.
LiveWire Salon Poets with Michelle Fisher
Our ‘LIVEwire’ Salon is a proven hit at the festival, and this year we have no fewer than twelve renegade poets performing for you at some point over the weekend.
Hosted by Michelle Fisher
Connor Byrne is a poet and performer from Brighton, now living in London. Their work explores gender and the relationships we have with others and the world. They have performed nationally and internationally, at festivals, competed in slams and self published two pamphlets.
Sunnah Khan is a Scottish Pakistani poet living in London, Sunnah writes poems of belonging and displacement. When she’s not producing documentaries, she’s either standing on her head or performing with her poetry collective 4 BROWN GIRLS WHO WRITE.
Oakley - A writer and performer originally from the West Midlands, they’ve received playwright development from Birmingham REP and gained a place on Royal Court’s playwrights programme. Oakley has performed nationwide, has been published by #Queer in the US and has a forthcoming collection ‘The Rainbow as a Bleeding Sky’ on Verve.
Sheena Patel - A London-based poet, and part of the exciting and much spoken about collective 4 BROWN GIRLS WHO WRITE. Sheena’s writing is a surrealist interweaving of sex and myth, and she can be a little bit rude sometimes.
Repeat Beat Poet - A broadcaster and hip hop poet, PJ fuses traditional poetics with hip hop culture to capture and extend moments of time, thought, and feeling. He produces and hosts monthly poetry events Boomerang and Pen-Ting and his radio show #TheRepeatBeatBroadcast, and is a house emcee with hip hop label Imaginary Millions.
Oli Spleen - In 2018 as a tribute to his recently deceased father, Oli recorded his second solo album ‘Gaslight Illuminations’. It was also inspired by the emotional fallout of a toxic relationship. It’s been described as “a gloriously dark and haunting work” and “a mesmerising work from an artist who has embraced his maturity”.
Maria Ferguson - A multi award-winning theatre maker from Essex, Maria is also a highly acclaimed poet. Her début one-woman show ‘Fat Girls Don’t Dance’ won Best Spoken Word Show at the 2017 Saboteur Awards, and follow-up ‘Essex Girl’ won Show Of The Week at VAULT 2019. It tours from September to November.
Toria Garbutt - A rising star of the UK scene, Toria has been touring with Dr John Cooper Clarke since spring 2016, both at home and abroad. Her début album ‘Hot Plastic Moon’ was released by N&T, and her début collection ‘The Universe and Me’ has been hailed by The Guardian and Radio 4.
Joelle Taylor - An award-winning poet, playwright, author and editor who has recently completed a world tour with her latest collection ‘Songs My Enemy Taught Me’. Joelle is widely anthologised, the author of 3 full poetry collections and 3 plays and is currently completing her début book of short stories ‘The Night Alphabet’.
Michelle Fisher - A writer and performer from Glasgow, Michelle was a resident artist at Roundhouse from 2017-18 and has been commissioned by the likes of BBC and Huffington Post. Her work explores wider societal issues, including class and poverty, and how they impact on our daily lives. She’ll host our Friday show.
Matt Abbott - A poet, educator and activist from Wakefield, Matt formed spoken word label Nymphs & Thugs in 2015 and fronts alternative act Skint & Demoralised. His ‘Two Little Ducks’ show explores the working-class Leave vote and the refugee crisis.
ShakeItUp: The Improvised Shakespeare Show
Shakespeare hasn’t written anything new for an age, so ShakeItUp are giving him a helping hand. Using his language, audience suggestions and our overactive imaginations, help us to create a brand-new Shakespeare play live on stage! Get ready for a dollop of improvised Bard-based Bedlam. Every show is a classic Shakespeare would have been proud to write… (probably).
“Alas I wishe I hade writtenne this myselffe” Christopher Marlowe
“Why doth no one improv about my plays ?” Ben Jonson
The Trouble Club
The Trouble Club presents Dr Fern Riddell and Stephanie Theobald. Discussing books, sexuality, gender and unconventional people.
Dr Fern Riddell, a cultural historian and an expert in sex, suffrage and entertainment in the Victorian and Edwardian eras.
Her first book, The Victorian Guide To Sex, tackled the myths of Victorian prudishness. Her latest book, Death In Ten Minutes, is an explosive account of the Suffragette bomber and birth control activist, Kitty Marion. Fern’s unique research into the suffragettes, taken from Death In Ten Minutes, was used in the BAFTA Nominated documentary ‘Suffragettes with Lucy Worsley’. Historical Consultant for the BAFTA award-winning BBC and Amazon drama Ripper Street, she advises on both Specialist Factual and Drama productions for the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Sky Arts, and has appeared as an expert historian for radio and television internationally.
Stephanie Theobald a writer, journalist, novelist and traveller.
After graduating from Jesus College, Cambridge in 1989 with a degree in French and Spanish, she moved to Paris where she taught English and worked as a freelance journalist. In 1993 she left Paris to become Fashion Editor for The European. Her first three novels, Biche, Sucking Shrimp, and Trix were published between 2000 and 2004. Between 2004 and 2008, she was on staff at Harper’s Bazaar UK as senior editor, writer and reporter on the high society party beat. Her fourth novel, A Partial Indulgence, came out in 2010 and was hailed by The Times as delivering “art, sex, money, class . . . with enormous style”. She currently writes for publications including The Guardian, The Sunday Times, Elle and The Financial Times, her work focusing on sexuality, gender and unconventional people.
Yasmine Seale
Yasmine Seale is a translator from Arabic and French, and her essays on books and art have appeared in Harper’s, The Nation, the TLS, Apollo, frieze and elsewhere. Her translation of Aladdin came out from W. W. Norton in 2018. She is currently working on a new translation of the Thousand and One Nights for the same publisher. She lives in Istanbul.
Moin Mir
Moin Mir is the author of The Prince Who Beat the Empire, which traces the annexation of Surat, India’s greatest port, by the East India Company and the rise of Meer Jafar Ali Khan, the intrepid Prince of Surat who goes on to lead a riveting legal counterattack against the colonising corporation. Mir’s previous work is the co-authored Mirza Ghalib and the Mirs of Gujarat. He is currently working on his next book set in 18th century Europe and India
A fascinating story of triumph and fortitude and the life and travails of an Indian Prince in Victorian England who fought the Empire and also found true love in 19th century London"
Dominic West says: "This is a moving story of a deeply sympathetic hero, a majestically stylish Indian Prince who took on and defeated a monolithic tyrant. A man who won over Victorian England with charm and decency. Mary Jane, the English actress's love for him and his country is so affecting: that out of his fight with the English political establishment came an affection and a long and everlasting connect to it.
John Niven - Kill 'em All
John Niven spent a number of years working as an A&R manager. His first book, Music from the Big Pink, a fictional novella set in the world around Bob Dylan and the Band in Woodstock in the 1960s, was critically acclaimed on publication in 2007. Film rights to the book were acquired by Stephen Butterworth. John is also the author of Kill Your Friends (his cult satire on the music industry, which was longlisted for the Desmond Elliot Award, and which has been made into a film), The Amateurs, The Second Coming, Cold Hands, Straight White Male and The Sunshine Cruise Company, all of which were published by William Heinemann to critical acclaim and universal press coverage.
Josie Barnard
The foundations of being ‘digitally engaged’ can be split into three layers. The first is ‘access’. Do you physically have access to a smartphone or computer and a decent internet connection? Secondly, skills. Even if you have a smartphone, do you know how to use it? And lastly, how do you use it? Even if you have a smartphone and the basic technical skills necessary, can you use it in a positive and effective way? This last one is particularly relevant to young people – those ‘digital natives’ who supposedly have the innate gift of being able to use the technology they grew up with.
As the pace of change speeds up, it’s simply not possible to keep up to date with ALL new technology ALL the time.
Clearly access and training - the first two layers - involve money and resources. One thing that’s essential across the board is (for people of all ages), creative flexibility, that’s the solution.
Dr Josie Barnard is a writer of theory, fiction and non-fiction. Her works include studies, novels, creative non-fiction and, as well as books, print and radio journalism. She has taught creative writing widely, including at Middlesex University, Goldsmiths and the Faber Academy. Key interests include how the ‘digital turn’ impacts writing and publishing, research that is represented by ‘The Multimodal Writer’.