ABOUT KAO HOVE, THE CURATOR OF OUTSPOKEN ’23
Kao Hove is a multidisciplinary artist and creative director/facilitator, specialising in poetry, music, and movement. They’re inspired by their lived experience of mental health, disability, and queerness.
They work with Young Identity and have been commissioned for Chorlton Arts Festival, Cheetham Cultural Festival, !Viva Festival!, First Street Festival and Manchester Literature Festival.
As a solo performer, they have performed at various poetry nights including: Drop the Mic, Pull up and Speak and Sapphic. They created online “Lovers in Lockdown” collection, raising awareness/donations for domestic abuse charities. Kao has been published in Working from HOME, Ecosystems of Fury and Drawn Poorly Zine.
Instagram: @kaoti.semicolon
Twitter: @kaoruhove
ABOUT ELIJAH BROWN
I’m an 18 year old non-binary, aromantic-asexual, dual-heritage Mancunian writer of poetry and fictional prose. I’ve been writing with Young Identity since summer 2022; Two of my poems are due to be included in their next anthology, due to be published this spring. I am currently focusing on developing my skills and exploring my identity as a writer. I will be taking up a place to study Creative Writing at university in September.
COOKIE
Cookie is a Non Binary Multifunctional Artist, front person for a punk band and a spoken word artist whose poetry sheds light on our dark sides with their perception of human nature. They have featured in the HOME Manchester Open Exhibition 2022, on BBC Radio Manchester for Black History Month, Worldwide FM, Reform Radio, Under The Pavement and are a regular at spoken word nights across the North.
Instagram: @chroniclesbycookie

ZERO THE FOOL
Zero is a non-binary filipino poet, who is a multidisciplinary artist forever shifting in their infinite aliases. Their poetry aims to tackle human conditioning and nature in a somewhat distanced, aloof way yet never taking itself too seriously. In this Fool’s journey, everything starts with Zero.
Instagram: @spuffypunk and @freereinfoolpoetry
Spotify: Free Rein Fool

Lolo
Lolo (they/them) is an anarchist poet residing in Hulme since last year, given a home and safety by the queer community of Manchester after being declared homeless by Shropshire County Council. Lolos poetry centres around the intersectionality of queerness, Jewishness, working class identity, and coming from a Romany Gypsy background. Lolo believes that poetry is a tool in creating creative means of antifascist action.
Instagram: @kalorie_kardashian
