Francesca Beard
Francesca Beard was born in Malaysia and spent the 1970s growing up in Penang, an idyllic island paradise. After a spell in real jobs, she gave it all up to become a fictional character and now exists as a London-based poet, performing spoken word to lucky audiences all over Britain and the world. In May 2005, her first radio play, 'The Healing Pool' was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and London Live. She is developing a new show, workng title, 'London Tales', supported by the Arts Council, England.
Francesca gained experience and training through the Apples and 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, from the National's 'Transformation' programme in East London primary schools to being writer in residence at the Metropolitan Police for 'Emergency 999'. With the British Council Live Literature Department, she has run poetry workshops and masterclasses in Bulgaria, Azerbaijan, the Czech Republic and Russia. Later this year, she will be speaking about her work as a poet in education at conferences in Berlin and the Phillipines.
