Malaysian-born, London-based artist Francesca Beard is a writer, performer and workshop facilitator. She has toured nationally and internationally as a solo artist, in various poetry collectives and with one woman shows ‘Chinese Whispers’ . She represents British literature all over the world with the British Council and was lead artist on ‘Speechless’, a three year programme across East Asia which culminated in emerging poets from Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan performing at the Royal Festival Hall. Her visits in the last year include performances and workshops in Khartoum, Kampala and Chengdu.
You can read her introduction to performance poetry ‘Power in the Voice’on The British Council website. Her children’s show, 'Animal Olympics', developed in association with Chinese Arts Centre and Soho Theatre and premiered at the South Bank’s ‘Imagine’ Children’s Festival has toured nationally and internationally. She has written plays for BBC Radio 4 and was on attachment to the Royal Court Theatre in 2008 as one of the UK’s most exciting emerging writers.
Francesca gained experience and training through the Apples&Snakes programme PIE (Poets in Education) and has been working as a workshop facilitator in creative writing, poetry and performance since 1999. She runs one day workshops and masterclasses for all ages, as well as working on longer term projects with theatres and organisations, such as the National, Creative Partnerships, Arvon, Spread the Word, Eastside and Booktrust. She has been writer in residence at many institutions, including the Barbican, Hampton Court Palace, the Tower of London, the Natural History Museum, the Metropolitan Police and the BBC. Taken from www.francescabeard.com
