Laura Kestrel is an international slam-poetry champion, multilingual LGBTQIA+ writer, workshop facilitator, producer and artist from Cornwall, England, who has performed across Europe and North America, in various languages.

Since her spoken-word debut in October 2016, Laura Kestrel began performing at various events in London and Kent, where she performed in the finals of the Emerging Talent Showcase at Wise Words Festival, among many other venues and festivals. She also facilitated and ran workshops across Kent, in collaboration with a mental health outreach programme, as well undertaking poetry mentorships.

More recently, as part of her temporary move to Canada, she qualified for poetry slam finals in both Ottawa and Montréal, and qualified for the Ottawa team (she unfortunately could not attend the Montréal finals). She also qualified for the Womxn’s slam finals, as well as writing and touring a cabaret show, organising a poetry postcard exchange between Canada and the U.K, and regularly helped mentor young Canadian poets. She has also had a North American book-tour (both Canada and America), before returning home, where she did another book-tour, in London and the Home Counties, including hosting her sold-out female showcase, Arthena. She since then returned home to Penwith, where she created a new spoken-word night, SYMpoésieUM, and is a founder member of a collective aiming to promote and expand the spoken-word scene in Cornwall. In 2019, she embarked on a new mixed-media project and community, Delphimmunity, whose works will be exhibited in 2021, as well as touring A Ship Called Arthena – an interactive show aimed at teenagers, and being commissioned for two plays.

Laura Kestrel’s poetry, short stories and artwork have been featured in various magazines, both local and international, and her debut book, the confessional Lambs with Manes of Lions, was published in August 2017.  Her second book, Turn-Stiles and Turn-Around Smiles however, aims to uncover the world in which we live, through the metaphysical aspects of the human condition. She is now living in Spain, and has performed across the country, including CellarDoor in Barcelona, Versat I Fet in Valencia, and Cosmopoética in Seville.

“Laura Kestrel takes a flash-frame photograph of the life of 20-somethings in the U.K. Both extrovert and ineffably introspective, this is a poetry for our times.” – Joelle Taylor

“What Laura Kestrel poses in writing, she doubles in passion, honesty, and truth. A dreamer and believer of justice, she punctuates every poem and pen stroke with it.” – Alex Vellis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvqJAag2OTI&list=PL6zcSWRAec1l5E2Lz8eDTkDwtmopA4tj2