Bob Beagrie

Bob Beagrie is a poet, playwright and senior lecturer in creative writing at Teesside University. He has performed at numerous festivals and venues nationally and internationally, including The Royal Festival Hall – South Bank Centre, Theatre Royal Newcastle, Crossing Borders Festival – Amsterdam, Kiasma Museum of Modern Art – Helsinki, Down By The Laiturri Festival – Turku, The Haganum Festival – Den Haag, The Dylan Thomas Centre – Swansea, The Poet's Café – Silvers, Portugal and The Poetry Café London. He has received commissions from Arts Council England, The Hydrogen Jukebox Cabaret of The Spoken Word, Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council and Hartlepool Borough Council, The Laing Gallery Newcastle and Helsinki Refugee Centre. As well as collaborating with musicians he has also worked closely with visual artists on public artworks and with theatre company Three Over Eden.

He is co–director of Ek Zuban Press, a independent publishing house which produces Kenaz magazine, and bi-lingual poetry editions drawn from international exchange projects. Ek zuban also delivers creative writing, reminiscence and local history projects with community and education groups across the North of England, often culminating in performances and/or publication of participants work.

Ek Zuban also runs the regular Middlesbrough-based live literature event, The Electric Kool-Aid Cabaret of the Spoken Word.

Bob’s research interests lie in the capabilities of creative writing to be used as a vehicle for personal, social and community development and cohesion. How it can be employed as a model of learning across a wide range of curriculum areas and how its reflective approach can be used to open up social issues for debate and discussion.