Michael Pedersen (b. 1984) is a poet, playwright and animateur with an electric reputation on the performance circuit and a prolific precedent of collaborations, having teamed up with some of the UK's top musicians, film-makers and artists. He is widely published in magazines, journals, anthologies and e-zines; his inaugural chapbook 'Part-Truths' (Koo Press) was a Callum MacDonald Memorial Award finalist; its sequel 'The Basic Algebra of Buttering Bread' (Windfall Books) received flocks of reviewer plaudits. He is co-founder and circus master at Neu! Reekie! - now one of the country's most formidable literary nights and DIY record labels - and a key creative within Dream Tower Productions. He's also the lyricist for cult band Jesus, Baby! and has written short plays for various troupes including the National Theatre of Scotland. Having travelled the world and taught in Cambodia for a year, Pedersen writes verse that gives a vivid idea of what it is to be young, socially aware and irrepressibly optimistic in the melting pot of the twenty-first century. He also enjoys sewing.