Born in 1975, Fay is a classically-trained singer from Cardiff who has been getting on stages since the early 80s. She was finally bitten by the performance poetry bug in Spring 2006 after a favour to a friend turned into a place in the final of a poetry slam. |
| She has co-managed and co-hosted Poetry Kapow! (a series of live poetry events) with the rather fabulous Danni Antagonist since 2007 in Milton Keynes, frequently performs across the Midlands and South East, and is part of a Milton Keynes poetry collective calling themselves Bardcore. She is currently a professional pedant, still sings pretty much everywhere and, since summer 2009, is based in Cambridge, where she co-hosts the Cambridge chapter of Hammer & Tongue. |
| Fay’s poetry is both thoughtful and heartfelt, with plenty thrown in about love, relationships, the perils of getting older, illusion, delusion and problems with the colour orange. A proponent of free verse and paperless performance poetry, she likes to play with haiku and senryu in her spare time along with the odd obscure pun. |
| Her work has been described as: “lyrical”, “engaging”, “scarily good” and, memorably: “too many words... I got lost...” Her voice has been described as “musical”, “mellifluous”, and “mesmerising”. |
Fay has performed poetry in pubs, clubs, theatres, tents, shopping centres and stately gardens, in Open Mic, showcases, features, support, collaboration, competition and costume. Sometimes she bangs a drum, and sometimes she performs in silence, while the words flutter in front of her...
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| Featured slots include: |
- An Evening of Rhythmical Ravings and Rants as one of the featured poets/ musicians/ storytellers for the various evenings in venues across the south-east, London, Hemel Hempstead, St. Alban’s, Cambridge, etc. - March 2010 to August 2011, including feature slots at Rickmansworth Festival (May 2011), and Edinburgh Fringe Festival (August 2011)
- Rhymes - the Milton Keynes takeover as one of the three featured poets supporting Mark Niel, Birmingham - May 2011
- Howl and Scowl as featured poet for the evening of poetry and comedy, Hampstead, London - April 2011
- International Women's Day programme for Rebel Arts, one of the featured performers for the programme on Cambridge Community Radio - March 2011
- Whippersnapper Press Launch as one of the featured poets for the evening, London - February 2011.
- Utter! Sickness, supporting Richard Tyone Jones with Niall Spooner-Harvey, London - February 2011.
- Scribal Gathering Spoken Word Special - the inaugural chairing of the Stony Stratford Bard, as a featured singer and part of the bardic council judging the aspiring bards - January 2011.
- Mark & Mixy’s Dead Poets Show, with Danni Antagonist, supporting the Watford leg of the eponymous duo’s tour in association with RRRants and Poetry Link - January 2011.
- Headstand as one of the featured and broadcast poets for the show on Cambridge 105FM and the podcast - March and December 2010.
- Scribal Gathering Has Nine Lives as Featured Poet (with accompaniment from Gav Sirisena) - Stony Stratford, October 2010.
- BEAT: Cambridge versus London as a featured act in the poetry event, London - October 2010
- Utter! Edinburgh ‘Preview’ (it’s complicated), winner of the Paid Gig Competition, London - September 2010.
- Aestival as part of the Tongue in Chic Showcase - September 2010.
- Rrranting Festival featuring David J for the London Fringe as one of the featured support acts - August 2010.
- Tongue in Chic Allstars Showcase; one of the featured artists as part of the Buxton Fringe Festival, Buxton - July 2010.
- PUREandGOODandRIGHT as the featured poet of the evening, Leamington Spa - May 2010
- Rickmansworth Festival as a featured poet in the Rrrants Spoken Word tent - May 2010
- The Word’s a Stage as one of four poets commissioned to write new material for the Apples & Snakes’ “poetry bootcamp” event - March 2010
- From Bard to Verse as one of the featured poets for the evening, Stony Stratford - January 2010
- BEAT Ladies’ Night as a featured act in the all-female poetry and music event, London - January 2010
- An Evening of Poetry & Music as a featured Kapow! act commissioned to write and perform new material inspired by the Lost & Found exhibition at Milton Keynes Gallery - December 2009
- Fuzzy Face as featured support act for The October Game’s album launch in Hitchin - October 2009
- Tongue in Chic as featured support act for Zena Edwards and Steve Larkin in MADCAP Theatre, Milton Keynes - September 2009
- Write Way Up as a commissioned poet to write and perform new material as part of Leicester’s Lyric Lounge at the Y Theatre - July 2009
- Stowe Gardens’ 18th Century Day, as one of the featured acts performing 18th Century poetry in full costume for the Poetry Society’s Centenary - July 2009
- The Big Moo Festival as part of the Kapow! poetry and music feature, Milton Keynes - July 2009.
- MK4U as a featured Kapow! act performing poetry and music on the acoustic stage and in The Tea Tent at the performing arts festival in Milton Keynes - July 2006 and 2009
- Bedford & Jersey Arts Festival as part of a Bardcore Showcase, performing solo and collaborative poetry and music, Bedford - June 2009
- Waterside Festival as a featured act performing in the Stage Two tent at the performing arts festival in Milton Keynes - June 2007 and 2009
- Don’t Shush Me! as featured support act for Billy Childish’s show for Apples & Snakes (Bishopsgate, London) - June 2009
- Poetry From the Back End of the Bull, a Bardcore Showcase, performing solo and collaborative poetry and music as part of Stony Live - May 2009
- A Perfect Start to An Evening as a featured Kapow! act commissioned to write and perform new material inspired by the James Lee Byars exhibition at Milton Keynes Gallery - May 2009
- The Poets as featured support act for the Stony Live Festival showcase for the eponymous poetry duo, Stony Stratford - June 2008
- The Art of Poetry as a featured act performing in the event forming part of the Marcel Broodthaers Exhibition at Milton Keynes Gallery - February 2008
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| Other events performed at include: |
Monkey Kettle Poetry Slam (Milton Keynes), Ripping Pages (Northampton), Raising the Awen (Northampton), Night Blue Fruit (Coventry), Poetry Busking (Milton Keynes), CB1 Poetry (Cambridge), WORD! at the Y (Leicester), Apples & Snakes Open Mic (London), Camden Crawl (London), Farrago Slams (London), Poetry Stanza (Milton Keynes), Hammer & Tongue Slams (Cambridge), Upbeat Open Mic (Cambridge), Bang Said the Gun (London), Scribal Gathering (Stony Stratford), Speakeasy (Peterborough)
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| What other people have been saying: |
“... she combined a compelling mix of emotions... ranging from excitement, joy, uncertainty and fear in deftly modulated piece. Fay is certainly one to watch on the performance poetry scene.” - Pam Thompson, Producer of ‘Write Way Up’
“... I’m beginning to lose count of the times she’s transfixed audiences at MK poetry nights with her deceptively soft-spoken yet powerfully compelling words... Plus she sings like an angel frosted in icing sugar.” - MMT, editor of Monkey Kettle magazine
“... hauntingly brilliant.” - Richard Tyrone Jones, ringmaster of Utter! poetry.
“... Fay’s words are the good stuff; the nourishing, soul-strengthening shot that warms you on the last train back home; the line you can’t get out of your mind...” - Mark Niel, host of Tongue in Chic
“Inaccurately described once as “a tsunami of hair” Fay Roberts is in fact more akin to a sunset over a glorious coastline... Treat yourself: See her perform, read her words.” - Ian Barker, award-winning fellow-performer
“if you have the chance to see her, make sure you take it.” - Noel Hill, reviewing Utter! Sickness, 1-Feb-11.
To see these (and others) in more detail, please click here.
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