The Speakers' Corner was formed to offer a platform for spoken word. We believe there is nothing greater than hearing the creativity of others, as well as providing the chance for performers, comedians, poets and dramatists to have their say.

We would like to offer a special thanks The Yorkshire Terrier pub for their support.

The hosts:

Andy Humphrey
...was born and raised on the Wirral, and moved to York in 2006 where he lives with his wife and ten goldfish. He lists "surviving three years in Milton Keynes" as one of his proudest achievements. He is a research scientist by day and a poet by night, with poems published in Aesthetica, Envoi, Monkey Kettle, Orbis, Pulsar and numerous other journals, as well as in three Ragged Raven Press anthologies. His poetry has won several awards including five First Prizes in national or international competitions. He is also the creator of the Poet's Soapbox blog and column in the National Association of Writers' Groups' LINK magazine. His short stories (written as A.J. Humphrey) have appeared in Dark Tales, Scribble and Words, and in anthologies from Bridge House Publishing and Earlyworks Press. His favourite things include twilight, fairy stories, folk music and single malt whisky (not necessarily in that order), and his favourite colour is Indigo. His ambition is to prove that dragons really did exist and, in fact, quite possibly still do. You can find more details at http://andyhumphrey1971.webs.com.

Adrienne J. Odasso
...was born in Cleveland, Ohio (USA) in 1981. After a butterfly and water-critter filled childhood spent in Western Pennsylvania, she spent her high school years reading obsessively, studying voice, and dreaming of music school. When that didn't work out (mostly because she spent most of her time in the practice rooms writing instead of singing), she transferred from the Hartt School in Connecticut to Wellesley College in Massachusetts, from whence she graduated in 2005 with a B.A. in English. After completing her M.A. in Medieval Studies at the University of York, she went on to pursue a Ph.D. in late medieval English literature, also at York, which she will be completing in early 2010. She has been writing since the age of 14, although she has only been submitting work in the wild world of publishing since late 2005. Her poetry has appeared in a number of magazines on both sides of the Atlantic, including Strong Verse, Aesthetica, Sybil's Garage, Succour, Farrago's Wainscot, The Liberal, Mythic Delirium, Illumen, Not One of Us, and others. Her short fiction has appeared in Behind the Wainscot and in recent anthologies from Hadley Rille Books (Ruins Terra) and Drollerie Press (Needles & Bones). A poem from her Gold Wake Press e-chapbook, Dead Zones, has been nominated for the 2009 Pushcart Prize Anthology, and she has also been nominated for Sundress Publishing's Best of the Net. Her first print chapbook, Devil's Road Down, is being released in September 2009 by Maverick Duck Press. Her first full collection, Lost Books, will be available in April 2010 from Flipped Eye Publishing. She lives in York with her husband, James, and a number of dusty books on the subject of Piers Plomwan manuscripts.