John Cooper Clarke shot to prominence in the 1970s as the original ‘people’s poet’.

Henry is a writer, poet, TV & Film producer, founder of the Manchester Poetry Festival (now the Literature festival) and co-founder of the Nottingham Poetry Festival.

Brian Bilston has been described as the Banksy of poetry and Twitter’s unofficial Poet Laureate; with over 200,000 followers on social media, Brian has become truly beloved by the online community.

Nigel Planer was an original member of the comedy groups at the centre of the ‘Alternative Comedy’ movement in the 1980s and starred in the seminal TV series The Young Ones, and The Comic Strip Presents.

Whether he’s opening for the Libertines or reciting Georgian ballads down your local, Luke Wright is adept at taking poetry places it doesn’t normally go.

Toria Garbutt is a spoken word artist from Knottingley - a former mining town in West Yorkshire

Mike Garry was a librarian for 15 years before becoming a poet.

Steve Earle is one of the most acclaimed singer-songwriters of his generation.