Adam Lowe

Adam Lowe is of Caribbean (St. Kitts), British and Irish descent.[5] He is the son of Councillor Alison Lowe, and like her graduated with both a BA and MA from the University of Leeds.[6] His family was the subject of the 1999 ITV docu-soap Family Life (Lion TV).[7]

Adam Lowe writes about disability, LGBT experiences and the lives of mixed race/Black British communities.

Carol Rumens of The Guardian describes him as a 'versatile and widely published young writer'.[8]

Lowe is LGBT History Month Poet Laureate; founded and runs Young Enigma, a writer development project for young writers; is Editor-in-Chief of Vada Magazine and Dog Horn Publishing; and is Publicity Officer for Peepal Tree Press.[2][1] He has performed around the world, at festivals and conferences,[2][1] including the Black and Asian Writers Conference.[9] He is an advocate for LGBT rights and sits on the management committee for Schools OUT UK, the charity that founded LGBT History Month in the UK.[10]

He was formerly Features Editor for Bent Magazine and Editor of a speculative fiction magazine called Polluto.[11][12]

In 2010, he was writer-in-residence at I Love West Leeds Arts Festival in Armley, where he lived.[13] He studied under Madani Younis at Freedom Studios in Leeds' sister city, Bradford.[14] He was also announced as a finalist for the 22nd Annual Lambda Literary Awards with his novella Troglodyte Rose (later, a selection from the book would be a Wattpad featured story getting over 190,000 reads).[15][16]

In 2011, Lowe was writer on attachment at West Yorkshire Playhouse, and partnered with composer Nikki Franklin for Leeds Lieder+ at Leeds College of Music, before the two collaborated on a new work, 'Mary', for the BBC Singers.[17]

In 2012, his pamphlet Precocious (Fruit Bruise Press) was a reader nomination for the Guardian First Book Prize, which the publication described as, 'A vivid picture of emotions, deeply felt, but with a clear-eyed view of the ways we humans live, love and sometimes betray'.[18] He had a residency at Zion Arts Centre.[19][14] That year he was Yorkshire's poet for the 12 Poets of 2012 scheme, celebrating the 2012 Olympics and the 2012 Cultural Olympiad, where he visited boxer Anthony Ogogo on a training session to inspire the writing of an Olympic-themed poem for the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.[20][3] The final poem was performed by the National Lottery Draw Show's Voice of the Balls Alan Dedicoat at the National Lottery Plot in the Olympic Park on 3 September 2012.[21] He rounded the year off with inclusion in MTV Books' Chorus: A Literary Mixtape, edited by Saul Williams and Dufflyn Lammers.[22]

In 2013, he was announced as one of 10 Black and Asian 'advanced poets' for The Complete Works II (founded by Bernardine Evaristo) with Mona Arshi, Jay Bernard, Kayo Chingonyi, Rishi Dastidar, Edward Doegar, Inua Ellams, Sarah Howe, Eileen Pun and Warsan Shire, which resulted in the anthology Ten: The New Wave, edited by Karen McCarthy-Woolf.[23] He was mentored on the programme by Patience Agbabi.[14] He also made the list of '20 under 40' writers in Leeds for the LS13 Awards,[24][25] where Lowe was given as an example of 'the non-conformist and boundary-breaking approach to writing in Leeds'.[26]

In 2014, he toured his solo show, Ecstasies, which began at Contact Theatre's Queer Contact.[2] He performed a poem about cruising for 4thought.tv on Channel 4.[5]

In 2015, his Polari poem Vada That was selected as The Guardian Poem of the Week.[8] His play Friend Roulette ran for a week at the Amersham Arms in London.[27] A four-star review in Theatre Bubble said: 'Friend Roulette by LGBT writer Adam Lowe, directed by Rachel Owens, sheds light on a gay friendship that is pushed by.. society? inhibitions? fear? into the confines of a chat room (Friend Roulette). But it could also be a comment on the real life app, Grindr, where users meet for sex and chance encounters. The intensity of the meetings that can only be virtual and therefore ‘not real’ for one of the friends, played by Robert Wallis, causes him to break free for the real world, leaving his internet friend Jonathan Woodhouse, stuck in the hell of a darkened room.' The Guardian referred to the short play, in published form, as 'a fine playlet that I was very impressed by'.[18]

In 2017, he performed with composer Nikki Franklin in the Speaker's Chambers at the House of Commons for LGBT History Month.[28]

In 2018-9, he featured in the British Library's Windrush Stories exhibition, performing a poem based on the Lord's Prayer.[29] In 2019, his poem 'Bone Railroad', about slavery and the Middle Passage was selected as Poem of the Week by The Yorkshire Times.[30]

In 2006, Lowe wrote the lyrics and performed the vocals for a hard house/trance single called 'Some Justice' with DJ GRH & Paul Maddox.[11][31]

Lowe tutors for The Poetry School,[32] he is a facilitator with English PEN[33] and he teaches at the University of Leeds on the MA Writing for Performance & Publication.[34]

Through Young Enigma, he has worked with and supported writers such as Andrew McMillan and Afshan D'souza Lodhi.[35][36] Young Enigma writers have performed alongside Patience Agbabi, Gerry Potter and Jackie Kay.[37][38]

He is currently a Slate Enabler for Eclipse Theatre, advocating for BAME artists in Greater Manchester.[1]

• 2013: Finalist for the 2013 Venture Poetry Award[39]
• 2013: LS13 Awards: '20 best writers under 40' in Leeds[24]

• Magma 75: The Loss Issue, edited by Adam Lowe and Yvonne Reddick (Magma Poetry, 2019)
• Best British Poetry 2015, edited by Roddy Lumsden (Salt Publishing, 2015)
• SPOKE: New Queer Voices (as editor) (Fruit Bruise Press, 2015)
• Ten: The New Wave, edited by Karen McCarthy-Woolf (Bloodaxe Books, 2014)
• LS13: A New Generation of Leeds Writers, edited by Wes Brown (Valley Press, 2013)
• Black and Gay in the UK, edited by John R. Gordon and Rikki Beadle Blair (Team Angelica Publishing, 2014)
• Best New Writing 2012: The Winners of the Eric Hoffer Prize for Prose (Hopewell Publications, 2012)
• Precocious (Fruit Bruise Press, 2012)

• Official website