Alex Vellis is a Greek-British poet, producer and playwright from Canterbury, Kent. He holds an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Kent and has published five books through Whisky & Beards Publishing. Vellis’ work challenges the ideas of hope and home, love and futility, and identity and place. His new book ‘I saw a bird once’ follows the lives of three people as they explore change in a working-class world His work has been used in schools in the Netherlands and in young offender’s institutes in the United States as a way to both display poetry and present a way to better understand our emotions. Vellis has performed both nationally and internationally as a poet, gracing stages in Paris, London, Oxford, and Malta. As well as delivering lectures at universities and festivals on events production, being a working-class artist, and poetry in the larger sphere. Alex has produced the majority of Kent’s poetry events for the last five years, including the online poetry festival (in conjunction with Connor Sansby and co) ‘Winchesterfest’ – for which he gained his second (unsanctioned) world record for producing poetry events. Currently, he is a poetry editor for a publishing house and an axe-throwing instructor.