Jay has always believed in bringing poetry alive for people in performance, and in the atmosphere that poetry can create which has been part of his work from its beginning in the early ‘80’s (in London).

As well as administrating ANGELS OF FIRE with its four major London Festivals of New Poetry (1983-1988), he has performed at many festivals and venues over the years including Edinburgh, Oxford, Cheltenham, Brighton, Glasgow, Lancaster, Salisbury, Ledbury, Bath as well as London (Drill Hall Arts Centre, Riverside Studios, the ICA, and the Purcell Room, South Bank) with residencies at Windsor Castle (ICOREC/ARC Faith & Ecology Summit, 1995), Whitehall (‘A Celebration of Creation’, 2002), St James’ Church Piccadilly (2005-6), and in the Sinai Desert for the Makhad Trust (2010).

Most recently he has been performing as part of the Stroud-based group PHOENIX - with poetry and storytelling as well as music (harp, didgeridoo, ballaphon and djembe); and organized the celebration of contemporary visionary poetry with storytelling and music on William Blake’s birthday as ‘Heaven’s Gate’, 28.11.09, with a capacity audience in the Stroud Subscription Rooms.

He can give performances solo or with PHOENIX in different combinations. Please contact him for more details with your details - jayramsay@o2.co.uk (and see ‘literary cv’).