Join Inua Ellams and Saul Williams for an electric night of performance poetry and spoken word in the International Festival’s Old College Quad venue. Expect an evening full of unexpected moments and plenty of audience engagement.

London-based Inua Ellams is an internationally touring poet, playwright, performer, graphic artist and designer. His published books of poetry include Candy Coated Unicorns and Converse All Stars, Thirteen Fairy Negro Tales and The Half-God of Rainfall, and his first play The 14th Tale was awarded an Edinburgh Fringe First Award. For his International Festival appearance he’s performing his specially commissioned work, whereby the audience chooses his set by searching for words through his collected works.

Ellams performs along with Saul Williams, a poetry titan who has performed in over 30 countries, with invitations spanning from The Louvre to the Lincoln Center and Sydney Opera House. New York-based Williams has recorded with the likes of Nine Inch Nails and Allen Ginsburg and more recently released his latest music works, Encrypted & Vulnerable.

A Toast to the People brings together two spoken word artists, each performing their own set of performance poetry that includes a specially commissioned piece inspired by Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson’s ‘A Toast to the People’. Following their sets, the two artists take part in an exclusive discussion about their work and the pervading issues and themes of today.

In partnership with Edinburgh International Book Festival

Made possible through the PLACE programme