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How free is free speech? Are there things that just can't be said? Enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the right to freedom of opinion and expression – but what does this mean in an age of anxiety and mistrust?

Speechless brings together new poetry by five writers from across South East Asia and four brilliant UK-based poets on the theme of freedom of expression in a unique new multi-lingual spoken word show. Below are their biographies:

UK POETS

Aoife Mannix is an Irish writer and poet based in London. Her first collection of poetry The Elephant In The Corner was published by Tall Lighthouse in 2005. Her work has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4, and London Live. In 2007/8 she is touring her poetry and music show Growing Up An Alien with Apples and Snakes, supported by Arts Council England. A book of poems from the show was published by Tall Lighthouse in October 2007

Francesca Beard is as a London-based poet, born in Malaysia. Her solo show, Chinese Whispers, which was commissioned and produced by Apples & Snakes, toured the UK in 2007. She has performed for the British Council in countries such as Azerbaijan, Bulgaria and Columbia

Jacob Sam-La Rose is a poet, writer, playwright and educator of Guyanese heritage. A former Poet-in-Residence at BBC London, he is a touring writer with the British Council. He directs and oversees a range of creative writing initiatives, including the London Teenage Poetry SLAM. He has worked in conjunction with the National Theatre, the Learning Trust, Spread the Word, the Barbican and Apples & Snakes to deliver creative writing and educational programmes.

SE ASIAN POETS

Liu Liang Yen* (TAIWAN) was born in 1979 in Taitung, Taiwan. His interdisciplinary research and professional background has taken in poetry, photography, video art, modern theatre, modern dance and graphic design. He has performed his work at a number of events including the Taipei Arts Festival (2005), and the Taipei Poetry Festival (2003, 2004). Liu Liang Yen has published two poetry collections: Your Days of Chrysanthemums, 1999 and There Are Ghosts, 2002 and launched two Chinese literature journals.

Siege Malvar (PHILIPPINES): Siege Malvar is the author of two novels for young adults. In 2004, Siege Malvar dropped out of law school to pursue his vocation as high priest of performance poetry and he is now part of the Sus N¹Roses group.  His work ranges across genres and forms, and he tends to dabble in the use of new media and Web 2.0 platforms to convey his messages.

Pooja Nansi (SINGAPORE): was born in 1981 in Gujarat, India and came to Singapore with her parents at the age of one and a half.  She is currently a teacher of English Literature at a local Junior College.  A regular performer at the Singapore Poetry Slam, she has also performed at various other literary festivals and events such as the KL Literature Festival in 2007, SubTEXT as well as the National University of Singapore¹s Arts Festival.  Performance poetry provides her the platform to merge two of her passions ­ drama and writing.

Priya K. (MALAYSIA) is a final year law student and self-described closet dreamer.  She is co-organiser of Project OMG! gigs in Petaling Jaya and a member of the youth theatre group The Oral Stage, both writing and starring in stage productions.  She has performed her poetry at the British Council Wayang Kata events 4 and 5, and participated in the Singapore-Malaysia poetry exchange performance during the Singapore Writer¹s Festival in December 2007.

Da Thao Phuong (Ms) (VIETNAM) at age 34 is one of Vietnam’s best-known contemporary poets. She also works as a writer and section editor for a major daily newspaper in Vietnam. Her passion since childhood has been poetry and she took first prize at age 18 in a nationwide poetry competition organised by the National Writers’ Association and the Swedish state development agency. Since then she has read her works in Vietnamese theatres, universities, on television and national radio. Her poetry has been published in more than 20 collections and retrospectives in Vietnam, including the 'L’hexagone de Song Hong', 'The Defiant Muse: Vietnamese Feminist Poetry from Antiquity to the Present' and in the United States and France. In recent performances she has cooperated with acapella singers, stage performers and video artists.

*Liu Liang Yen would like to thank:
Taishin Bank Foundation for Arts and Culture
Council for Cultural Affairs, Taiwan
Department of Culture Affairs, Taipei City Government