Ellie Reeves

Hi, I’m Ellie. I grew up in bustling North London and moved to Norwich for an undergrad at UEA. English Literature and Creative Writing gave me access to the incredible arts scene Norwich has to offer and I’m very proud to call this quirky little city my home. As a performer and events manager, I’ve worked with brilliant artists, charities and venues including Norfolk & Norfolk Festival, Toast Poetry and Wasp Theatre Show. Much of my professional focus as Programme Officer for the National Centre for Writing focuses on talent development and celebration of local creativity. I also sit on the board for Young Norfolk Arts as a trustee.

Ultimate Desert island disc track? Bat Out of Hell by Meatloaf.

Who would play you in the play of your life? Brigette Lundy-Paine, If I should be so lucky.

If you had to be locked inside one gallery overnight, which would it be and why? Every year when I was in secondary school, my friends and I would try to get tickets for the Natural History Museum’s Halloween spooktacular events that ran throughout the night. We failed every time, so I’d love to live out that dream.

What was the last book you didn’t manage to finish? The Miseducation of Cameron Post – but I WILL! It’s excellent and I recommend it. It’s taking a while because I watch Modern Family to cheer myself up every time I read a particularly sad part (which is most of it).

Have you ever read a poem that feels like it HAD to be written about you? What was it and why? I was always inspired by Maya Angelou’s Phenomenal Woman, that is until I read Onions by Lorna Crozier. The wonderful onion in question is unapologetic, resilient and above all else, entirely content with itself. It boasts at the sanctity of it’s every eye-watering layer, knowing that it can only be whole by holding itself tight and facing the world. So, when the world bites it, the onion always has the last laugh. I love that.