Rick Dove is a Member of the Sword Forge Collective 2022 – 2023.
BIOGRAPHY
Rick Dove is a queer, mixed-race, and neurodiverse poet and storyteller. His work explores themes of identity, philosophy and social justice using a blend of traditional, spoken-word, and free-verse styles, in order to interrogate the liminal spaces that define our common humanity.
He has been published in an eclectic mix of publications and presses including; The Morning Star, Bunbury Magazine, the Guardian Online, Untitled Writers, Tonic Sta Press, the London Spoken Word Anthology, Cipher Press, Nine Pens, and Arachne Press, as well as contributing to spoken word albums, and appearing on local and national radio.
A veteran of spoken word stages across the UK, including the Crystal Palace International Festival, Wandsworth Arts Fringe. and the Edinburgh Fringe, Rick’s work has been described as “sonorous in every sense” and “akin to a secret being delicately unwoven”. And he was dubbed “one to watch” by TS Eliot Prize winner Roger Robinson in 2019.
Rick’s debut full collection, Tales From The Other Box, was published in August 2020 and he was crowned the H&T National Poetry Slam Champion at the Royal Albert Hall on 4th July 2021.
NOTEWORTHY
- Hammer & Tongue U.K. National Poetry Slam Champion (2021)
- Tales From The Other Box published by Burning Eye Books (2020) [ buy it here ]
- Haigha’s Noosphere Canticles pamphlet published by WCH Publishing (2017) [ buy it here ]
- Co Artistic Director of Spoken Word at PBH’s Free Fringe (at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe) as of 2021.
- Waltham Forest Poetry Competition – Commended (2021)
- Farrago UK Slam Silver Medallist (2019)
- BBC Edinburgh Fringe Poetry Slam – Commended (2018)
- Poet in residence at The Big Red Poetry Tour (Wandsworth Arts Fringe in association with The Errant Stage) 2018 and 2019.
- Poet in residence at xWhy Magazine (2016)
- Poet in residence at The Chocolate Poetry Club (2016).
- Workshop facilitator since 2017.
- Featured performer at Bold! Above the Stag, Mother Wolf Club, International Page & Stage(NI), Poetry at Your Place (NZ), Fen Speak, John Ball Day, Egham Festival of Music, Jacksons Lane, Burning Eye Presents, Pen-Ting (The National Poetry Library), Incite, Hammer & Tongue, Cambridge, Bristol Literature Festival, Lit Licks (Fringe!), Neptune’s Glitter House, Boomerang Club, Poets vs Homelessness (with Crisis UK), What’s Going On In My Head (Hospital Club), Speak=, Poem-a-Thon (The Poetry Society), Hammer & Tongue Hackney, A Room With a Chair in It (The Mental Health Foundation), Pen-Ting, Poets vs Gender Equality (UN Women UK), Words Aloud, 8 Extraordinary Poets (The Golden Hinde), Allographic, Hammer & Tongue Oxford, Incite, Paper Tiger Poetry, Boomerang Club, Platform 1, Beyond Words, Shared Spaces (Friends of the Tate), Once Upon a Mic, Loud Poets, and Rebel Riot Poetry.
- Featured in Where We Find Ourselves anthology by Arachne Press (2021).
- Featured in Hair-Raising anthology by Nine Pens Press (2021).
- Featured in the following journals: Soapbox, I am Not A Silent Poet, Guardian Online, The Morning Star, Untitled Voices, Tonic Sta Press.
AN EXAMPLE
TESTIMONIALS
A hugely important social-political voice in the UK poetry scene. Rick is able to weave intimate stories and social issues together in a way that makes every injustice personal to everyone listening. A masterclass in how performance poetry blends performance and writing to make magic happen.
KATHRYN O’DRISCOLL
BOOKINGS / CONTACT RICK
Twitter: https://twitter.com/multistable
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thehawknameddove
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rickdove/
Website: https://www.rickdove.co.uk/
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/rickdove
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rickdovepoet/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClCgeK0o8fJ-3JtLRrqHXtg
Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/rickdove