Nii Ayikwei Parkes: Press Release

PRESS RELEASE: Nii Ayikwei Parkes - Poet

LONG BIO: Nii Ayikwei Parkes is an unusual breed of poet. Respected internationally both as a performer and a published poet, he has performed and run workshops all in Africa, The Americas and Europe.

His work is described as "passionate and painful", "by turns sharp, reflective, evocative, and transfixing.

Nii writes in English, French and his native Ga, and has performed his poetry to audiences in Paris, London, Accra, Manchester, Bristol, Chicago, Connecticut, North and South California and New York. He is widely published in magazines and literary journals and has appeared on radio and television in Ghana, Washington DC, Connecticut and London.

In performance, he has a unique voice that engages and challenges in equal measure. His skillful interweaving of his own breath and silences, with the words he utters, creates a unique web within which he enchants.

His first collection of poetry "eyes of a boy, lips of a man" was published in 1999 and a CD of his performance pieces "Incredible Blues" was released in July 2002. He has since published a collection of jazz-inspired poems M is for Madrigal (tall-lighthouse, 2004), edited an anthology of poetry, (fourteen two (flipped eye, 2004), co-edited an anthology of short stories, Tell Tales Volume 1 (Tell Tales, 2004) and been featured in the Poetry Society's special 2004 National Poetry Day publication, Poetry on a Plate (Salt, 2004). In 2003, Nii was the recipient of an Arts Council Award for his just completed novel, The Cost of Red Eyes.

SHORT BIO: Born in the UK, raised in Ghana, Nii Ayikwei Parkes is a recognised poet and author of two collections; eyes of a boy, lips of a man (1999) and M is for Madrigal (2004).

Nii has performed all over the world on major stages like the NuYorican in New York, The Royal Festival Hall in London, and Paradiso is Amsterdam, and featured on radio and TV in the UK and the US. A versatile and hard working writer, his prose has been published in x magazine and Tell Tales Volume I, which he co-edited, and his articles can be found in Sable and Poetry News.

In 2003, Nii was Poet-In-Residence at the Poetry Society of England, won the Farrago Best Overall Poetry Performance Award, and was given an Arts Council Award for his just completed novel, The Cost of Red Eyes. He is also the featured face for Poetry in the 2004 Time Out London Guide.

Bookings
Tel: ++44 (0) 845 430 9518
Fax: ++44 (0) 845 430 9517
E-mail: agent@x-bout.com

Website
http://www.niiparkes.com/