Luke Wright (poet)
Luke Wright is a British poet, performer, publisher, curator and broadcaster.
Life and career
Raised in northeast Essex after being adopted as a baby, Wright is an alumnus of the Colchester Sixth Form College. There he began writing and performing poetry at age 17 after seeing Martin Newell and John Cooper Clarke perform.He formed the poetry collective, Aisle16, with Ross Sutherland in 2000. Aisle16 created three poetry/theatre shows uses video and projections: Powerpoint, Poetry Boyband and Aisle16's Services To Poetry. Services to Poetry was commissioned by Candida Lycett Green to commemorate the centenary of her father, John Betjeman's, birth; it was made into a film. Aisle16 have continued to develop new ensemble work via their London-based "literary cabaret" night, HOMEWORK. Wright has been involved in a number of these and in 2011, returned to the Edinburgh Fringe with Aisle16 members, Tim Clare and John Osborne, for Aisle16 R Kool.
In 2006, Wright began creating solo shows of his poetry. By 2015, he had created nine. He is the author of several books and pamphlets. Wright tours as a support act for John Cooper Clarke.
Wright curated the Poetry Arena at Latitude Festival from 2006 till 2015. 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.
In 2009, Wright set-up Nasty Little Press, an independent publishing house focusing on poets better known for their live performance work.
Stage shows
Powerpoint, 2004 Poetry Boyband, 2005 Poet Laureate, 2006Aisle16's Services to Poetry, 2007 Poet & Man, 2007A Poet's Work Is Never Done, 2008Who Writes This Crap?, 2008 The Petty Concerns of Luke Wright, 2009Luke Wright's Cynical Ballads, 2011Aisle16 R Kool, 2011 Your New Favourite Poet, 2012Essex Lion, 2013Stay-at-Home Dandy, 2015What I Learned From Johnny Bevan, 2015- The Toll, 2017
- Frankie Vah, 2017
- Luke Wright: Poet Laureate, 2018
- The Remains of Logan Dankworth, 2019
- The Ballad Seller, 2020
- Come! Come On! Meet Me!, 2022
- Luke Wright's Silver Jubilee, 2023-24
- Joy!, 2024-25