Kevin Mclean
(he/him)
Creative Director & Chair of Directors

Kevin Mclean is an award-winning spoken word poet, the Creative Director of I Am Loud, and the host of Scotland's premiere spoken word night Loud Poets.

He has directed, produced, and performed work at the Brighton, Edinburgh, and Prague Fringe Festivals, Glastonbury Festival, StAnza: Scotland’s International Poetry Festival, Edinburgh International Book Festival, Leicester’s Find The Right, Words, STV’s The Late Show, and BBC Radio Scotland’s Culture Show.

As Creative Director of I Am Loud Productions Kevin has worked to direct, produce, and edit film work for festivals including Winchester Poetry Festival, the Scottish International Storytelling Festival, and StAnza, along with organisations including the John Muir Trust, Glenfiddich, and the Irish Consulate.

Kevin is also an actor and voiceover artist featured in campaigns with companies including Skoda, Scottish Water, Orchard Pig, Napier University, Premier Sports, Citizens Advice Scotland, and Macsween Haggis.

Mark Gallie
(he/him)
Operations & Digital Production Director, Sustainability Officer

Mark Gallie is an Edinburgh-based voice actor, poet, producer and editor.

He has performed across the UK and internationally as a feature performer at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Glastonbury Festival and VAULT Festival. He also supported Shane Koyczan during the Scottish leg of his 2019 tour.

An accomplished editor, Mark has produced podcasts for I Am Loud, the Scottish Storytelling Centre and Edinburgh City of Literature. He has also produced and edited digital events for multiple literary festivals including the award-winning Stanza: Scotland’s International Poetry Festival, Winchester Poetry Festival and the Scottish International Storytelling Festival.

Dr. Katie Ailes
(she/her)
Education & Access Director, Safety Officer

Dr. Katie Ailes is a poet, researcher, producer, and educator focusing on spoken word poetry. Since 2015 she has worked with I Am Loud in multiple capacities, including as a producer, publicist, and performer, and she directs our educational programming. 

Katie has co-devised and performed spoken word shows with Loud Poets across the UK, including at the Edinburgh, Prague, and Brighton Fringe Festivals. Her poetry has been published widely and her poem “Outwith” was chosen as one of the Scottish Poetry Library’s Best of the Best Scottish Poems in 2019. In 2023 she served as the Glastonbury Festival Poet in Residence.

As Education Director of I Am Loud, Katie facilitates the Loud Poets Writing Club and leads spoken word poetry and performance workshops with schools and organisations across the UK and Europe.

Katie’s PhD focused on the performance of authenticity in contemporary UK spoken word. Katie is also a classically trained dancer and choreographer interested in the intersection between speech and movement, as explored in her cinepoems “Polos” and “Breathing Space”.

Bex Bidgood
(she/they)
Marketing & Communications Director

Bex Bidgood is a spoken word producer, performance poet, digital artist and social media manager based in East Lothian. They have a track record of writing and performing ‘nonsense’ poetry, reflected in their debut pamphlet Poetry for Cows (2020).

In addition to writing and performing poetry, Bex is a key member of the I Am Loud Productions team. She was instrumental in producing internal projects including Return to Form, the Loudcast, the 2022 Live Season, Loud Poets Happy Hour and all seasons of NaPoWriMo. They also produced the ‘Building Stories’ podcast for Edinburgh City of Literature and Historic Environment Scotland and created corporate training videos for Ed-tech company Sumdog.

Bex is the co-host of Jingle Belles, a seasonal Christmas movie review podcast. Her poetry has been published by Coin-operated Press and she has produced artwork for Edinburgh band Gefahrgeist and Young Women’s Scotland.