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Iona Lee

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Contact: iona-lee23@hotmail.com
Local authority: Glasgow City
Languages: English
Iona Lee's headshot

I am a poet, illustrator, writer and spoken word artist, and have been working in the spoken-word world since the tender age of seventeen. I won the Scottish National Slam at nineteen. Since then my work has appeared in newspapers, magazines and journals and my debut pamphlet was published by Polygon in 2018. It was shortlisted for best poetry pamphlet at both Saboteur and Saltire Awards.

I have made many appearances on radio and television and regularly perform at and organise poetry nights up and down the UK. I spend my summers touring festivals including Glastonbury, Kelburn Garden Party and the Edinburgh International Book Festival. In 2018 I created an hour-long spoken-word/theatre show with my band Acolyte for Hidden Door Festival.

I have a degree in illustration from Glasgow School of Art and have been involved in both drawing and poetry workshops with the Scottish Poetry Library, Toonspeak, the Outwith Agency and Hermat Gryff Woman’s Aid. I am interested in all aspects of poetry and illustration, especially in how one can influence the other and vice versa.

My work often centres around themes of grief and loss, memory, magic, storytelling, folklore, word-smithery and womanhood. All served self-aware and with a good dollop of humour.

(Photo credit: Trackie McLeod)

Local authorities can visit

Aberdeen City; Aberdeenshire; Angus; Argyll and Bute; Clackmannanshire; Dumfries and Galloway; Dundee; East Ayrshire; East Dunbartonshire; East Lothian; East Renfrewshire; Edinburgh City; Falkirk; Fife; Glasgow City; Highland; Inverclyde; Midlothian; Moray; Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles); North Ayrshire; North Lanarkshire; Orkney Islands; Perth and Kinross; Renfrewshire; Scottish Borders; Shetland; South Ayrshire; South Lanarkshire; Stirling; West Dunbartonshire; West Lothian

Events can deliver

Live drawing; Mentoring; Panel event; Performance; Reading; Residency; Talk; Workshop

Audience can work with

English as an additional language (EAL); People experiencing mental health problems; People living with dementia; Vulnerable adults; Vulnerable older people; Young people in the community (e.g. Youth clubs, Guides, Scouts)

Topics of work

Adolescence; Childhood; Coasts, seas & oceans; Comedy, humour & funny books; Death, grief & bereavement; Environment & climate; Fairy tales, folklore & mythology; Gender equality; Health including mental health & wellbeing; Loneliness & isolation; Music; Nature; Picture books

Age groups published for

Children; Teens; Adults

Age groups can work with

12-14; 15-18; 18+

Audience size

0-10; 11-30; 31-100; 100-500; 500+