Byron Vincent

Byron Vincent (born 26 February 1975) is a British writer, performer and broadcaster known predominantly for his theatre and spoken word performances and his work on BBC Radio 4. Byron has a diagnosis of bipolar disorder and is a campaigner for issues around mental health and poverty.

Byron Vincent
Born26 February 1975 (1975-02-26) (age 45)
Bolton
NationalityBritish
OccupationWriter, Performer, Broadcaster
Websitehttp://www.byronvincent.com/

Life and career

Vincent was raised in the north-west of England and has described his early life as tumultuous. His teens were particularly unsettled, during which he left school prematurely aged 15. Over the course of the next few years he experienced homelessness, drug addiction and violence[1] the latter reportedly being partially responsible for his diagnosis of PTSD.

After leaving the notorious and now demolished Woodside estate in Pitsmoor, Sheffield, Vincent got clean and began writing and performing as a hobby in Lancaster's Spotlight club around the mid-1990s.

After a decade-long hiatus, in 2007 Vincent reappeared as a spoken-word performer. Vincent quickly became a regular on the UK festival circuit[2] performing at Glastonbury, Latitude, Leeds, Reading, Secret Garden Party, Shambala, Port Eliot, Camden Calling and others.

By 2009 Vincent had been chosen by Patrick Neate as one of the BBC poetry season's new talent choices.[3] His first collection, Barking Doggerel, was released in May 2010 by Nasty Little Press. He was compere and programmer for the Bristol Old Vic's monthly spoken word night blah blah blah between 2010 and 2013. In 2014 Byron was part of the Kill Your Darlings collective, a monthly literary cabaret at Bristol's Cube Cinema, which he ran with Molly Naylor, Nathan Filer, Nikesh Shukla, Chelsey Flood and Tom Clutterbuck.

In 2013 Vincent was one of the writers on The Royal Shakespeare Company's Midsummer Night's dreaming. Vincent has appeared on Channel 4's Random Acts, BBC Radio 4's Wondermentalist and Bespoken Word and BBC Radio 3's The Verb.[4]

Vincent's debut solo show Talk About Something You Like received much critical acclaim[5] for its poignant and personal exploration of the mental health system. He has written for The Guardian and Radio 4's Four Thought.[6] He is a popular keynote speaker and regularly gives talks on social issues to charities, police forces, government bodies and the private sector. Byron is an ambassador for mental health charity Rethink[7] an organisation that tackles stigma around issues of mental health.

Radio shows and podcasts
  • The Trouble With Social Mobility (Writer / Presenter; BBC Radio 4)[8]
  • Hell Is Other People: A Self-Help Guide to Social Anxiety (Writer / Presenter; BBC Radio 4)[9]
  • Four Thought - Nothing To Lose (Writer / Presenter; BBC Radio 4)[10]
  • Talk About Something You Like (TASYL) Podcast (Presenter / Producer)
  • How to Turn Your Life Around (Co-presenter; BBC Radio 4)[11]
  • The Glasgow Boys (Writer-Presenter; BBC Radio 4)[12]

Live shows
  • Talk About Something You Like 2015
  • Live Before You Die 2016
  • Instagramming the Apocalypse 2020

Books
  • Vincent, Byron (1 May 2010). Barking Doggerel. Nasty Little Press. ISBN 978-0-9563767-2-5.
  • Ink 2014 (The Eye of the Storm)

References
  1. Byron, Vincent. "Viewpoint: Escape from the sink estate". BBC.
  2. Libby, Brown. "The 'Inane Ramblings' of Byron Vincent". Suave Lifestyles. Archived from the original on 2016-03-07. Retrieved 2016-01-31.
  3. Neate, Patrick. "Poetry Season".
  4. Byron, Vincent. "House Theatre".
  5. Bell, Sean. "Mental illness: no myths, just comedy". Fest. Archived from the original on 2016-02-08. Retrieved 2016-01-31.
  6. Vincent, Byron. "Four Thought, Nothing to Lose". BBC.
  7. Vincent, Byron. "Awesomeness 1, anxiety 0". Rethink. Archived from the original on 2015-04-05. Retrieved 2016-01-31.
  8. Writer / Presenter: Byron Vincent; Producer: Giles Edwards (11 January 2019). "The Trouble With Social Mobility". BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 29 January 2019. Missing or empty |series= (help)
  9. Writer / Presenter: Byron Vincent; Producer: Neil McCarthy (5 October 2015). "Hell is Other People: A Self-Help Guide to Social Anxiety". Four Thought. BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  10. Writer / Presenter: Byron Vincent; Producer: Giles Edwards (17 August 2015). "Nothing to Lose". Four Thought, Series 4. BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  11. Presenters: Byron Vincent, Anna Woodhouse; Producer: Jenny Sneesby (29 March 2016). "How to Turn Your Life Around". Seriously…. BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  12. Presenters: Byron Vincent; Producer: Giles Edwards (21 November 2017). "The Glasgow Boys". Seriously…. BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
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