INUA ELLAMS

Born in Nigeria in 1984, Inua Ellams is an internationally touring poet, playwright, performer, graphic artist & designer. He is an ambassador for the Ministry of Stories and he has various published books. His first play The 14th Tale was awarded a Fringe First at the Edinburgh International Theatre Festival and his fourth Barber Shop Chronicles sold out two runs at England’s National Theatre.

Inua tries to mix the old with the new. In graphic art & design, he merges traditionally created images with digital graphics/texture with vector/pencil with a pixel. His first love was drawing, the simplicity of graphite on paper and studied towards a carer in visual and fine arts. On request of a friend, he sketched a flyer for a live poetry event and began graphic work in 2003 exclusively for poetry communities in inner-city London, designing publicity material, websites, books and visual identities for poets and organisations alike. He later expanded to working with various art forms and organisations as an illustrator, designer and art director.”