Zwa: Victoria Adukwei Bulley

innate creates presents Zwa… music, words, feels, culture

Victoria Adukwei Bulley +  Desree + Piers Harrison-Reid

Victoria Adukwei Bulley is a poet, writer and artist. An alumna of the Barbican Young Poets and recipient of an Eric Gregory award, Victoria has held residencies in the US, Brazil and the V&A Museum in London.

Her debut pamphlet Girl B was published by The African Poetry Book Fund in 2017. She is the recipient of a Techne scholarship for Doctoral research at Royal Holloway, University of London.

Victoria is also the director of MOTHER TONGUES – an intergenerational poetry, film and translation project celebrating acclaimed poets of colour alongside the cultures, languages and women that have nurtured them, supported by Autograph and Arts Council England.

Her debut collection Quiet was published by Faber in 2022. It was shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize and won the Rathbones Folio Prize for Poetry and the John Pollard Foundation International Poetry Prize.

Desree

Desree is a London and Slough-based award-winning spoken word artist, writer, facilitator, and producer. Known for her powerful storytelling and advocacy through the arts, she has performed at major events and venues such as Glastonbury Festival, Bowery Poetry Club in New York, and the Royal Albert Hall. As Poet in Residence for Glastonbury 2022, and EMPOWORD Slough, Desree explored the power of poetry in large cultural spaces.

Her debut poetry collection, Altar, (2025, Bad Betty Press) is shortlisted for the Forward Poetry Prize, Best First Collection Award. The work examines sacrifice and its complex intersections with Black British identity, belonging, and resilience, challenging mainstream narratives of heroism. Desree’s previous projects include co-writing the award-winning spoken word play CROWDED and producing Slough’s EPF Poetry Fest and curating anthologies Words On Windrush and Poetry In The Pandemic. She has collaborated widely, working with organisations such as the National Literacy Trust, Synergy Theatre Project and Apples & Snakes. A TEDx speaker and a regular voice on BBC Radio Berkshire, Desree continues to foster creativity and community engagement through both live and digital platforms.