Francesca Beard is an internationally acclaimed spoken word artist who makes interactive and transformational work for live audiences.

She has over twenty years experience facilitating cross-arts projects with a wide range of diverse groups and communities, working across generations and internationally – from parent and baby groups in Bexley libraries, to young student activists in Khartoum, to an all-female collective of writers in Kampala to older people in Islington care homes.

She’s written commissions for institutions such as The Barbican, The Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace and The Royal Court. As a facilitator and dramaturge, she’s worked with institutions such as BBC Radio 3, The Young Vic, All Change and ICT Young Company to create ambitious, public facing, participatory community-led shows.

She has been artist in residence at Banff, Canada and The Mixed Reality Lab, Nottingham University, to develop story-telling platforms for live and on-line audiences with B3 Media and Kings Cultural Institute.

Her innovative, often interactive, multi-media one person shows are increasingly made in conversation with different communities. She recently toured ‘How to Survive A Post-Truth Apocalypse’ about story-telling, lies and language and is currently developing ‘Confabulation’, about the future of memory, supported by Arts Council England.

Francesca Poem Links

‘Who Am I?’ A TedX talk at the Science Museum, a spoken word piece exploring identity, culture and language.

‘The Poem that was Really A List’ – I love a list poem

‘Sleight Mind’ – Extract from ‘How to Survive A Post Truth Apocalypse’ this poem imagines some of the mental processes that take place when you are making a choice.