Malaika Kegode

uplifting and celebrating the voiceless, overlooked and misunderstood. She is especially passionate about highlighting queer, working class and rural stories. Beginning her creative career as a performance poet in 2014, Malaika has since developed her practice to encompass theatre and radio writing, as well as teaching, producing and film curation. In 2021, she wrote and performed in her debut theatre show Outlier at Bristol Old Vic. It was the first piece of new writing on their main stage post-lockdown. The show, directed by Jenny Davies, fuses spoken word, original music from folk-rock band Jakabol, and animation projection by Christopher Harrisson to tell Malaika's autobiographical story. The show won acclaim from critics and audiences alike. Malaika also works as a mentor and editor. She is passionate about helping people to realise the value of their own stories, and is the founder and lead producer of Milk Poetry, an organisation that produces innovative spoken word events in a supportive environment.