Maria Ferguson

Maria Ferguson is an award-winning writer and performer from Romford, now based in Leeds. She has been a resident artist at the Roundhouse and Battersea Arts Centre, and been commissioned by The Royal Academy of Art, BBC Radio and Stylist magazine.

Her debut one-woman show Fat Girls Don’t Dance sold out shows across the country including at the Edinburgh Fringe where it was met with critical acclaim. It won the Saboteur Award for Best Spoken Word Show 2017 and is published by Bloomsbury. Her follow-up Essex Girl was shortlisted for Soho Theatre’s prestigious Tony Craze Award and won Show of the Week at VAULT Festival 2019. It went on to tour the UK and is also published by Bloomsbury.

Maria’s poetry has been published in Mslexia and Perverse and anthologised by Bad Betty Press and Trapeze. Her debut collection Alright, Girl? was highly commended by The Forward Prizes and is published by Burning Eye.

She teaches creative writing in a number of settings including projects for Apples and Snakes, Southbank Centre’s Women of the World Festival, Omnibus Theatre and Discover Children’s Story Centre.