Alma Solarte-Tobon

Alma Solarte-Tobón is a Colombian-born British creative facilitator and researcher based in Nottingham. With more than 25 years of experience in the community arts sector, she has led and delivered local and international projects spanning a wide range of art forms. Art, poetry and storytelling are central to many of the collaborations, projects and community engagements that she has been delivering.

Alongside her freelance creative practice, she is a Research Associate and Doctoral Researcher at Loughborough University’s Storytelling Academy and has a passion for interdisciplinary projects.

Carys Jones

Carys is an experienced project co-ordinator, charity sector manager and enthusiastic lifelong Nottingham resident.

Carys is working to support the team in an organisational capacity to enable their creativity to be the focus. When not living for paperwork and admin tasks, she runs her own private psychotherapy practice, leads a Masters course training Psychotherapists and is finishing up a PhD.

Cara Thompson

Cara is an award winning writer, activist and creative programmer born and raised in Nottingham.

Passionate about sharing the stories that shape our communities, Cara is an active member of Nottingham’s creative quarter, joining the poetry collective GOBS in 2021, and officially joining the Notts Poetry Fest team as Marketing Assistant in 2022. Cara is now Nottinghams Nature poet Laureate, and is a director of the festival.

Tommy is an experienced festival director, cultural producer and project manager with more than twenty years’ experience developing and delivering ambitious performance programmes. He works closely with venues, artists and partner organisations, while building creative connections across the UK and Europe.

He is Director of The Hustle Collective, overseeing Hockley Hustle, Young Hustlers, Green Hustle and more. Tommy has produced Nottingham Poetry Festival since its inception and co-directs Poets Off The Endz, supporting emerging poets through workshops, mentoring and performance opportunities.

Tommy continues to lead projects in the UK while developing new relationships and festival ideas in the Netherlands. He remains partial to a nice cup of tea.

Ben Macpherson

Ben is one of our festival producers and liaises with venues, artists and shapes the creative thinking behind the festival.

Ben Macpherson is a writer and performer with credits including BBC Radio 2, 4 Extra and local radio stations. His live performances have seen him play around the country including the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Latitude Festival and many more. He has four published works for different age groups and his style is characterised by playfulness and wry insight.

Jay Sandhu

Jay’s a creative who bounces between page, stage, and the producer chair. They write about identity, heritage, and social justice, but keep it funny and accessible. You’ll find them on BBC one day and at festivals like WOMAD and Shambala the next. Oh, and they’ve published internationally with HarperCollins and Otter-Barry.

By day (and night who needs sleep?), Jay produces projects for UNESCO, New Art Exchange, and New Art Exchange. Leading projects like the international Belonging EP, Poets off the Ends. Through Nott Another, they platform voices that don’t always get heard. Curating stages for Hockley Hustle, Nottingham Mela, and Leicester Comedy Festival.

Working hard to create with intention and meaning.

Laurie Illingworth

Laurie is an active and involved member of Nottingham’s creative scene

Working primarily within music, he coordinates marketing programmes and manages events for festivals, venues, charities and creative organisations across the city. Laurie is working with the team to build our organisational profile, develop our voice and promote our events. He curates our social media content across all platforms.

Carolina Rodrigues

Carolina is a Portuguese filmmaker and performance artist, specialising in rhythmic and comedic spoken word poetry exploring language, gender roles, queerness, and feminism

In 2023, after an internship at NPF, she began co-organizing and hosting Get Mouthy, a monthly open-mic event in Leicester dedicated to uplifting the local community. As a festival producer for the Nottingham Poetry Festival, Carolina facilitates logistical operations and provides administrative support to ensure the smooth execution of events. Additionally, Carolina supports communication with collaborators, manages inquiries, and help maintain a cohesive festival experience.

Nipa Uddin