Join award-winning poet Romalyn Ante for a creative writing workshop exploring how music, memory, language, and cultural identity can become sites of resistance, connection, and expression.
Presented as part of ESEA R.A.P Party – a special East and Southeast Asian edition of Inua Ellams' internationally acclaimed R.A.P Party platform – the workshop invites participants to engage with sound as a catalyst for storytelling, reflection, and collective imagination. Through a series of writing prompts and conversations, participants will explore the ways music carries personal histories, diasporic experiences, joy, and acts of resilience across generations and geographies.
Participants are encouraged to bring a music track that resonates with them, whether drawn from East and Southeast Asian popular culture, film, folk traditions, contemporary music, or personal archives. These shared sonic references will inform the workshop's creative process while contributing to the evolving ESEA mixtape that sits at the heart of the project.
Open to writers of all levels and backgrounds, the workshop particularly welcomes members of East and Southeast Asian communities interested in exploring creative writing as a space for dialogue, experimentation, and exchange.
Participation in this workshop is by application only. To be considered, please submit your application by emailing programme@eseacontemporary.org with the subject line ‘ESEA R.A.P Party Application’, including the following:
A £75 participation fee will be paid directly to all successful applicants by producer and curator Tuyet Van Huynh upon completion of the workshop.
Applications close on 6 July 2026 at 6pm.
ESEA R.A.P Party is produced and curated by Tuyet Van Huynh and co-curated by Mei Mac under Inua Ellams' internationally renowned R.A.P Party platform, with support from Arts Council England. This event is also supported by esea contemporary.
Tuyet Van Huynh is an award-winning British Vietnamese Chinese producer, curator and multidisciplinary artist working across film, immersive storytelling and cultural programming. Her practice is rooted in experimental and collaborative approaches to narrative and cultural memory. She is the Lead Producer and Curator of ESEA R.A.P Party, and the creator of Star Nha Ease and Consensus Gentium (Best XR Experience, SXSW 2023).
Mei Mac is an Olivier Award-nominated actor, theatre-maker and cultural advocate from a Hong Kong Chinese family based in Birmingham. Working across theatre, television and film, her practice foregrounds representation, collective authorship and East and Southeast Asian visibility in UK arts contexts. She is co-founder of Rising Waves, a platform supporting British East and Southeast Asian artists and creatives, and Co-Curator of ESEA R.A.P Party, working with Tuyet Van Huynh to shape its artistic direction and curatorial framework.
Inua Ellams is a poet, playwright and performer, and founder of R.A.P Party, an international live literature platform bringing together writers, audiences and music in shared space. His work spans theatre, poetry and performance, presented widely across the UK and internationally, with R.A.P Party staged in cities globally as an ongoing exploration of spoken word, improvisation and collective listening.