Our team
Ryan is responsible for working with poets, artists and the StAnza team to programme an annual celebration of poetry in all its forms.
He has 20 years experience organising events and festivals in Scotland and around the world. As Creative Director of Golden Hour Productions, has curated numerous innovative live literature experiences and as a producer with Highlight Arts, he has organised festivals and translation workshops in Syria, Pakistan and Iraq.
He has been Writer in Residence at the University of Edinburgh, the Citizen Schools Writer in Residence at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, and the Reader in Residence at the Scottish Poetry Library.
Suzie is responsible for all things related to festival and event festival production, as well as fundraising, project development, partnerships, staff management, finances, and for putting in place systems that ensure the smooth and efficient running of the company. Suzie has over 15 years’ experience working across the cultural sector in freelance and arts management. Working predominantly in theatre and live events, Suzie has held roles with leading theatre companies including curious directive, Actors Touring Company and Theatre-Rites. She is specialised in strategic planning, project delivery and financial management for arts charities and has a particular interest in the intersection between the arts and social development.
Natalie is responsible for supporting the Executive Producer with all festival production, including event logistics, supporting artists, managing volunteers and festival assistants, and for running the festival desk during the festival itself.
Natalie has had her poetry published in anthologies from Flapjack Press, Speculative Books, and Open Book. She performed at Edinburgh Book Festival 2023 as part of the Loud Poet’s Grand Slam and has won several poetry slams. Natalie has an MLitt Publishing in which her master’s dissertation analysing the accessibility of Scottish literary festivals was awarded a distinction, and has worked at several Scottish literary festivals for the past few years.
Josh Bircham is a digital marketing specialist and creative consultant with over a decade of experience working with arts, cultural, and public sector organisations across Scotland. Josh is a Senior Lecturer in Digital Marketing at Robert Gordon University, where he leads undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. Josh provides digital marketing and creative support under the name of his company Pict Digital. He brings a blend of academic rigour and hands-on practice to his work with StAnza, supporting the festival’s digital communications and audience engagement.
Our Trustees
Tim Cresswell (Chair)
Tim Cresswell is Ogilvie Professor of Geography at the University of Edinburgh. He is the author or editor of over a dozen books on the role of space, place and mobility in social and cultural life. He has PhDs in Geography (Wisconsin) and Creative Writing (Royal Holloway, University of London). Cresswell is also a widely published poet with three collections – most recently Plastiglomerate (Penned in the Margins, 2020). Recent academic books include: Maxwell Street: Thinking and Writing Place (University of Chicago Press, 2019), Muybridge and Mobility (co-authored, University of California Press, 2022), and The Citizen and the Vagabond: A Politics of Mobility (University of Minnesota Press, 2026). In 2025 he was elected a Fellow of the British Academy.
Catherine Wilson Garry
Catherine Wilson Garry is a Scottish poet and writer. Her pamphlet Another Word for Home is Blackbird was published by Stewed Rhubarb Press in 2023 and she was one of the London Library’s Emerging Writers in 2023/24. She is also the Schools Communities Learning Content Manager at Scottish Book Trust and the co-host of Rock the Boat, Push the Boat Out Festival’s monthly open mic.
Christina Neuwirth
Originally from Austria, Dr Christina Neuwirth is a writer, researcher and bookseller based in Edinburgh. Their fiction and creative non-fiction has been published online and in print in anthologies, magazines, and in their novella Amphibian. Their academic work is on gender equality in the Scottish literary sector, and you can read their report on this subject on www.quinereport.com; presentations and teaching have taken them to the US, Germany, Australia and various universities in the UK. Christina also serves on the board of Highlight Arts, and is a member of the Society of Authors in Scotland committee.
Naila T. Iqbal
Bio coming soon.
Oli Hazzard
Oli Hazzard is the author of three poetry collections, Between Two Windows (Carcanet, 2012), Blotter (Carcanet, 2018), Sleepers Awake (Carcanet, 2024) and a novel, Lorem Ipsum (Prototype, 2021). He is a Senior Lecturer for the School of English at the University of St Andrews and lives in Glasgow.
Rachel Wallace
Rachel is a craftswoman and finance professional who has worked across various creative sectors including bookselling and fiber arts. Her commitment to arts and literacy has led her to organise dance and cultural events across the UK and USA and to work with and manage various small businesses over the past 8 years. She brings this breadth of knowledge of Scotland’s cultural scene as well as keen financial acumen to the board.
Zosia Kuczyńska
Bio coming soon.
Fair Work Commitment
StAnza is committed to ensuring fair working practices across its activity and demonstrates its commitment to the Scottish Government’s Fair Work First policy by confirmation of the following:
Appropriate channels for effective voice, such as trade union recognition
StAnza actively encourages and makes space for its staff and trustees to be involved with professional support agencies, including trade unions, and regularly consults guidance from a range of unions – including The Writer’s Guild, Equity, ITC, Society of Authors and BECTU – in order to improve its working practices.
StAnza supports the development of a working environment where there is space for people to be heard, and where people can be who they are and can have choice and participate. Its small staff team is integrally involved in the development and evolution of all policies and procedures, with clearly articulated mechanisms provided for feedback – including anonymously – and humane approaches to managing concerns.
Regular full-team meetings are scheduled throughout the festival period, as well as individual ‘check-ins’ for team members with their line managers to ensure ongoing, open communication across the company.
In 2023-24, StAnza will also implement a ‘Board Buddy’ system for staff members in order to facilitate effective and direct dialogue with organisational leadership and further strengthen the mechanisms for effective voice for all team members within the organisation.
Investment in workforce development
Acknowledging the limitations within a small, project-funded organisation, StAnza is working on the development of a strategy that maximises existing resource as well as seeks out external opportunities for up-skilling and professional support for its staff. For 2023-24 this includes;
- Undertaking a skills audit for leadership (trustees, Artistic Director, Operations Manager) to identify areas for individual and organisational development;
- Identifying internal or external training to meet said development needs;
- Implementing monthly, voluntary skills-sharing sessions amongst staff members and trustees for peer-led development.
No inappropriate use of zero hours contracts
StAnza does not use zero hours contracts.
Action to tackle the gender pay gap and create a more diverse and inclusive workplace
StAnza is fully committed to an inclusive culture that welcomes & celebrates people for who they are.
Pay rates are budgeted in line with industry guidance and agreed prior to the appointment of any individual, in order to ensure that they cannot be influenced by any contractor’s protected characteristics, including gender.
StAnza’s approach to ensuring a fair, diverse and inclusive workplace is most clearly articulated through both its Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Policy and its Code of Conduct.
Payment of the real Living Wage
As a project-funded organisation, StAnza currently engages its regular staff on a freelance basis. All freelance team members are paid the equivalent of Real Living Wage and rates are set using industry and union guidance.
Offer flexible and family friendly working practices for all workers from day one of employment
StAnza’s regular staff are engaged on a flexible working basis as standard.
Staff agreements stipulate the number of days or hours to be worked across the period of the engagement and avoid specifically requiring fixed days/hours of work, except where strictly necessary e.g. for the delivery of the festival.
Staff are able to dictate their own working patterns in liaison with line managers/ trustees and other team members, and work entirely remotely with the occasional requirement to travel for meetings/events.
StAnza opposes the use of fire and rehire practices
