Luke Wright (poet)
Encyclopedia
Luke Wright is a British poet.
Born in Hackney in 1982 Luke Wright was adopted as a baby and moved to North-Essex where he was raised.
Inspired by Martin Newell and John Cooper Clarke he began writing and performing poetry aged 17, whilst still at sixth form college in Colchester. He soon met fellow teenage poet Ross Sutherland and the two of them formed a strong bond. In 2000 Wright moved to Norwich and joined Sutherland as a student University of East Anglia. Disillusioned with the poetry scene in the city the two soon formed their own club - [Aisle16].
Aisle 16 Years
Over the next two years "Aisle16" became a collective of like minded writer/performers and by 2003 number seven people (Wright, Sutherland, Ian "Yanny Mac" Mckenzie, Paul McJoyce, Joel Stickley, Chris Hicks and Tom Sutton).
After running successful cabaret events in 2002 & 2003 Aisle16 created Powerpoint for the 2004 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Powerpoint combined poetry with character comedy in the format of a spoof motivational business seminar. A successful Edinburgh lead to a UK tour and a London run in 2005, where the show gained Time Out's Critics' Choice of the week.
Powerpoint was followed by Poetry Boyband in 2005, Wright, Sutherland, Hicks and Stickley donning whit suits and presenting a comically dark lecture on poetry to an imagined school aged audience. The show was cult hit at the 2005 Edinburgh Fringe Festival and lead to a bigger national tour and a four week run at The Old Red Lion where it was named Time Out's Critics' Choice of the Year 2005.
Aisle16's third show was based on an idea by Wright to travel around the UK's service stations, trying to find the poetry in the least poetic of places. The group set out on the task in July 2006 and the resulting show Aisle16's Services to Poetry toured the country in 2007. A film mixing footage from the trip and the live show is available on line here.
Solo Career
In 2006 Aisle16 became a side project for Wright as he focused on his solo career. His debut theatre show "Luke Wright, Poet Laureate", played the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2006, racking up many five star reviews and paving the way for a 25+ date UK tour in 2007. "Poet Laureate" was followed by "Poet & Man" (Edinburgh 07, Tour 08), "A Poet's Work is Never Done" (Edinburgh 08, Tour 09) and most recently "The Petty Concerns of Luke Wright," (Edinburgh 09, Tour planned for 10). In all his shows Wright mixes poetry with anecdotal stand-up.
As a progammer Wright has curated The Poetry Arena at The Latitude Festival since 2006. with over 50 hours of poetry, featuring as many as 60 poets Latitude claims to be the biggest single poetry event in Europe and has become one of the most sought after events on the live poetry calendar. In 2007 Wright also hosted and programmed "Luke Wright's Poetry Party" in The Meadows In Edinburgh over two days in August, it was the Fringe Festival's first dedicated poetry venue in its sixty year history.
Publications
In 2007 Wright self-released a spoken word album called The Rise & Fall of Luke Wright, Esq. Later that year Penguin published Who Writes This Crap? a book of parodies written with fellow Aisle16 poet Joel Stickley. The book was well reviewed critically.
In November 2009 High Performance, a pamphlet of Wright's poetry, is published by Nasty Little Press.
TV & Radio
Wright is a regular contributor to BBC radio, in 2008 he became on the 'poets-in-residence' on BBC Radio 4's Saturday Live. He appears every six weeks or so.
In 2009 he turned the love stories of seven different couples in poetry for the Channel 4 documentary The Seven Ages of Love, directed for Zara Hayes. The documentary was for Channel 4's First Cut strand and was aired on Friday 13 February 2009 at 19:30.
Born in Hackney in 1982 Luke Wright was adopted as a baby and moved to North-Essex where he was raised.
Inspired by Martin Newell and John Cooper Clarke he began writing and performing poetry aged 17, whilst still at sixth form college in Colchester. He soon met fellow teenage poet Ross Sutherland and the two of them formed a strong bond. In 2000 Wright moved to Norwich and joined Sutherland as a student University of East Anglia. Disillusioned with the poetry scene in the city the two soon formed their own club - [Aisle16].
Aisle 16 Years
Over the next two years "Aisle16" became a collective of like minded writer/performers and by 2003 number seven people (Wright, Sutherland, Ian "Yanny Mac" Mckenzie, Paul McJoyce, Joel Stickley, Chris Hicks and Tom Sutton).
After running successful cabaret events in 2002 & 2003 Aisle16 created Powerpoint for the 2004 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Powerpoint combined poetry with character comedy in the format of a spoof motivational business seminar. A successful Edinburgh lead to a UK tour and a London run in 2005, where the show gained Time Out's Critics' Choice of the week.
Powerpoint was followed by Poetry Boyband in 2005, Wright, Sutherland, Hicks and Stickley donning whit suits and presenting a comically dark lecture on poetry to an imagined school aged audience. The show was cult hit at the 2005 Edinburgh Fringe Festival and lead to a bigger national tour and a four week run at The Old Red Lion where it was named Time Out's Critics' Choice of the Year 2005.
Aisle16's third show was based on an idea by Wright to travel around the UK's service stations, trying to find the poetry in the least poetic of places. The group set out on the task in July 2006 and the resulting show Aisle16's Services to Poetry toured the country in 2007. A film mixing footage from the trip and the live show is available on line here.
Solo Career
In 2006 Aisle16 became a side project for Wright as he focused on his solo career. His debut theatre show "Luke Wright, Poet Laureate", played the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2006, racking up many five star reviews and paving the way for a 25+ date UK tour in 2007. "Poet Laureate" was followed by "Poet & Man" (Edinburgh 07, Tour 08), "A Poet's Work is Never Done" (Edinburgh 08, Tour 09) and most recently "The Petty Concerns of Luke Wright," (Edinburgh 09, Tour planned for 10). In all his shows Wright mixes poetry with anecdotal stand-up.
As a progammer Wright has curated The Poetry Arena at The Latitude Festival since 2006. with over 50 hours of poetry, featuring as many as 60 poets Latitude claims to be the biggest single poetry event in Europe and has become one of the most sought after events on the live poetry calendar. In 2007 Wright also hosted and programmed "Luke Wright's Poetry Party" in The Meadows In Edinburgh over two days in August, it was the Fringe Festival's first dedicated poetry venue in its sixty year history.
Publications
In 2007 Wright self-released a spoken word album called The Rise & Fall of Luke Wright, Esq. Later that year Penguin published Who Writes This Crap? a book of parodies written with fellow Aisle16 poet Joel Stickley. The book was well reviewed critically.
In November 2009 High Performance, a pamphlet of Wright's poetry, is published by Nasty Little Press.
TV & Radio
Wright is a regular contributor to BBC radio, in 2008 he became on the 'poets-in-residence' on BBC Radio 4's Saturday Live. He appears every six weeks or so.
In 2009 he turned the love stories of seven different couples in poetry for the Channel 4 documentary The Seven Ages of Love, directed for Zara Hayes. The documentary was for Channel 4's First Cut strand and was aired on Friday 13 February 2009 at 19:30.