Shaun Haley
Spoken Word

My name is Shaun Haley and I have been performing poetry, under the name of Spesh, for around a year and a half now. (I’m hiding from Student Finance so a pseudonym always helps.) I've been writing poetry since I was sixteen but became committed to it as a main form of expression at the age of twenty one, when I was in my second year of university. My output is very eclectic, mixing politics with humour with observation with punk-y ideologies with existential ruminations with bawdy diatribes – yet I like to think that my overall focus is on what it is to be human and how we navigate our everyday existence.

I first started performing at events hosted by the Leeds University Spoken Word Society upon returning to my native Leeds; after completing my degree at the University of Reading. Following a brief stint in Italy as a touring actor, I found myself lucky enough to be able to reside in London and am currently in the nation’s capital now, regularly performing at Poetry Unplugged which is hosted by The Poetry Society and various other open mic nights. If you would like to contact me or just want to give me a big boost of validation, then my  Twitter is: @SpeshThePoet.

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Tom Roberts
Spoken Word

Tom Roberts here, hope you enjoy my 'getting by' poem and the tale of Martin. I've been writing poetry since university and hope to do so until my Mum stops paying attention, as she is my biggest and only fan.

"I think 'getting by' is such a cool concept because it encapsulates a feeling I've had far too often, that being, when you are passionate about the arts though are forced to must make many sacrifices in order to pursue ambition while getting by. A thing that is easier said than done in our new benefit slashing, NHS squeezing, Tory driven, expensive train ticket, rent rising, ice-caps melting, Bowie-less, Trumped up world. On that note, good luck with 2017, and I hope you find a way to more than get by, to live!!"

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Helon Conning
Artist

Helon is an exciting new Wirral based artist. She is currently studying Fine Art at Wirral Met College and enjoys spontaneity and living life in the moment. She has a focus on day to day human existence which is expressed through painting, portraiture, and various other art practises and processes including sculpture and printmaking. Always looking for different ways to use her imagination, inspired by “cosmically random thoughts and approaches”. Helon will be creating an abstract portrait through action painting, which aims to interpret the chaos of the poet’s mind, behind the creative process within an unfree world.

Fuse is a festival of multi-medium performance presented by YEP producers. Responding to the theme of 'getting by', 12 emerging artists will create a performance that includes spoken word, music, dance, physical theatre and classical art. See it at the Everyman for £2, Thu 9 Mar & Fri 10 Mar 2017.