Spoken Word
Storytelling
I love getting in front of an audience to tell folktales from around the world. Though I can deliver a wide range of moods and styles, I do have a preference for the darker stories…
I have performed at festivals, in bookshops and even in a tower. I’ve given talks to schoolchildren on folklore and storytelling, and held workshops for adults with Space for Storytelling on creating a one-person spoken word show.
While I can spin a yarn with nothing but myself on stage, I’ve also collaborated with experimental sound artist Sinister Masterplan for evenings of multisensory fun.
“Loizou has the most masterful
pacing to his stories”
Stephen Walker, Buxton Fringe
Performing at the Tell Yours showcase in 2018. Photo by Tomáš D’Aradia.
You can watch me tell one of my favourite horrible little stories: The Fairy Follower.
Beware those good folk…
Island of Love
NOMINEE: Spoken Word and New Writing
(Buxton Fringe 2024)
Cyprus. Birthplace of Aphrodite. An island of beauty, divided by war. Buxton Fringe New Writing Award-winner Polis Loizou presents an intimate new show, weaving biographical storytelling with mythology and folklore to explore his identity, his family and his complex motherland.
Beginning with the birth of the country’s infamous goddess, ‘Island Of Love’ takes the audience on a journey of love, desire, sexuality… and war. From tales of outlaws and bridal kidnappings to fatness and French nutriotionists, holy houses and conversion therapy to nationalism and division, the various faces of Cyprus are revealed.
Performances
No scheduled performances at present. To book Island of Love, please get in touch.
And Other Creatures
NOMINEE: Spoken Word and New Writing
(Buxton Fringe 2025)
In the West, there are things that go bump in the cold dark night... Elsewhere, there are girls who transform into demon fox spirits, women with the legs of donkeys appearing in the midday sun, and foolish men attempting to test their bravery in midnight graveyards.
Cypriot storyteller Polis Loizou aims to send a shiver down your spine with an hour of folktales from hot countries.
Performances
No scheduled performances at present. To book And Other Creatures, please get in touch.
Inn Crowd Commission
In 2020 I was commissioned to write a biographical storytelling show as part of Inn Crowd – a great initiative to tour pieces to rural pub venues. And if it seems familiar, that’s because it was the early iteration of what become the more complex Island of Love (above).
Polis Loizou’s Love Island
Life feels a bit like a movie when you grow up on The Island of Love. Especially when there is a vendetta being waged around you, brides are kidnapped from their homes under cover of night, and you find you have suspiciously famous ancestors. This is the Cyprus of Polis Loizou’s childhood, and he weaves it into an hour of funny, surprising, and unforgettable storytelling.
Past Performances
31st March, The Art Bank, Shepton Mallet
1st April, The Black Swan, Langport
28th May, The White Lion, Selling
18th June, First Light Festival, Lowestoft
Photo by Neil Munro
Awards & Nominations
NEW WRITING (NOMINATED): And Other Creatures (Buxton Fringe 2025)
SPOKEN WORD (NOMINATED): And Other Creatures (Buxton Fringe 2025)
NEW WRITING (NOMINATED): Island of Love (Buxton Fringe 2024)
SPOKEN WORD (NOMINATED): Island of Love (Buxton Fringe 2024)
Poetry
Photo by Bridie Squires
In 2021, I joined Nottingham’s GOBS Collective – a group of spoken word artists who offer exciting events and workshops. I was selected for their 12-week development programme, which culminated with a showcase. My piece was This, a video poem. You can find it and other examples of my video poetry here.
We then went on to create Full Moon, a collaborative spoken word performance, staged during Nottingham Poetry Festival in 2022.
I’ve since shared poems at Bad Betty Live, Nottingham Poetry Festival, Spraybox (as part of Hockley Hustle), and SMUT! Verbal Burlesque), among others.