Top performance poets will be joining the stellar line-up at StAnza 2012, which takes place over five packed days in March, with more than 90 events around the historic centre of the university town of St Andrews. The atmosphere at StAnza’s Poetry Café is unique: audiences are treated to fast and furious verse, comic, observant and topical, which they can enjoy over lunchtime snacks and drinks.

Young Dawkins, pictured, is the 2011 Scottish slam poetry champion, and  represented Scotland at the Slam Poetry World Cup in Paris. In August 2011 he performed a solo show at the Edinburgh Fringe, What I Know About Women So Far. He was also compere for the BBC slam at the 2011 fringe. Formerly a central figure in the Beat Revival movement in New Hampshire, he moved to Edinburgh in 2005 and is a regular on the Scottish performance poetry scene. His first poetry collection, The Lilac Thief, was published in 2009.

Tony Walsh, aka Longfella, and a Write out Loud favourite, has appeared at a variety of locations, from the British Library to the RSC, from the palace of science and culture in Warsaw to Glastonbury festival, where he was website poet in residence in 2011. His poetry has been published in the UK and US and has featured on BBC Radio2, BBC6Music and BBC1. Predominantly a performance poet whose work is available on CD, he is currently collating his first full collection for publication.

Claudia Daventry was born in London and spent several decades working around Europe as a copywriter and translator, as well as an extra in a kung-fu movie, and a singer in a Catalan blues band. A prize-winning poet, she was a one-time regular on the Amsterdam poetry scene. 

Jane Overton saw the light when she went to her first poets and pints night. She is now a regular on the Glasgow performance poetry scene as well as being originator, producer and participant in Arguments & Nosebleeds, a comedy performance poetry show at the Edinburgh festival’s free fringe. Along the way she has been a town planner, local government officer, credit union worker and hill walker. This sometimes leaks into the poems in strange ways.

Chris Young is the reigning StAnza slam champion, and a previous winner of Glam Slam UK (2010). Originally from London, Chris is a St Andrews graduate and lived in the town for 10 years, during which time he appeared on University Challenge, served as a community councillor and worked at the Byre theatre before moving to Glasgow in 2003. Since 2010, he has been a regular member of Arguments and Nosebleeds, and will be sharing the stage and verbal fisticuffs with Jane Overton.

Festivalgoers will no doubt be inspired to follow in the footsteps of Chris Young and sign up for the StAnza slam. Festival organiser Eleanor Livingstone said: “We give an enthusiastic welcome to everyone who takes the mic at the StAnza slam, whether they are experienced professionals or slam virgins and it’s always a very lively event. It’s great for me to hear so many stand-up poets, some of whom I’ll invite to perform at the lunchtime Poetry Café another year. But the list of slammers fills up fast, so now is the time to get your name included, by emailing works@stanzapoetry.org.” 

Full details on StAnza’s programme