AT HOME: A Toast to the People: Inua Ellams & Saul Williams
Inua Ellams and Saul Williams bring their own distinct styles to this not-to-be-missed A Toast to the People filmed event.
Watch Inua Ellams and Saul Williams' electric night of performance poetry and spoken word, filmed at the International Festival’s Old College Quad venue. Expect an performance full of unexpected moments with plenty of audience engagement.
London-based Inua Ellams is an internationally touring poet, playwright, performer, graphic artist and designer. His published books of poetry include Candy Coated Unicorns and Converse All Stars, Thirteen Fairy Negro Tales and The Half-God of Rainfall, and his first play The 14th Tale was awarded an Edinburgh Fringe First Award. For his International Festival appearance he performed his specially commissioned work, in which the audience chooses his set by searching for words through his collected works.
Ellams performed along with Saul Williams, a poetry titan who has performed in over 30 countries, with invitations spanning from The Louvre to the Lincoln Center and Sydney Opera House. New York-based Williams has recorded with the likes of Nine Inch Nails and Allen Ginsburg and more recently released his latest music works, Encrypted & Vulnerable.
A Toast to the People brought together two spoken word artists, each performing their own set of performance poetry that includes a specially commissioned piece inspired by Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson’s ‘A Toast to the People’. Following their sets, the two artists took part in an exclusive discussion about their work and the pervading issues and themes of today.
In partnership with Edinburgh International Book Festival
Made possible through the PLACE programme
Our digital programme offers audiences the opportunity to discover artists from this year's International Festival at home for free.
All events are free, but donations are welcomed. You can donate when booking your ticket, or by visiting our Support Us page.
To join these online conversations, please book a free ticket. You'll then receive a confirmation email with full details on how to view.
At the time of the event, you'll need to return to the At Home event page and login to your account to view. You can watch in a web browser on your computer or mobile device, or use Google Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Apple Screen Mirroring or an HDMI cable to watch on a television screen. There's more information on how to connect and troubleshoot any issues on our At Home Support page.