Young Identity, affectionately known as YI, is a Manchester-based literature and performance arts charity supporting diverse young voices through writing, performance and creative development.

Redefining poetry for a contemporary age, they create the poets and wordsmiths of the present and future. Through a youth-led, community-rooted and innovative approach to poetry and performance, Young Identity makes work universally accessible across the UK and internationally, empowering young people, especially those from underrepresented and protected backgrounds, with the tools, confidence and platforms to reach their full potential.

Young Identity’s poets are among the most decorated on the circuit, having performed alongside artists such as Lemn Sissay, Saul Williams, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Kae Tempest and the late Amiri Baraka. The collective and its alumni include BBC Words First poets, Slam-o-Vision winners and Manchester City of Literature Multilingual City Poets. Their work has featured on the stages of the Southbank Centre, National Theatre, Hay Festival, Factory International, Manchester International Festival, Manchester Literature Festival, Tara Theatre, and internationally at the Nuyorican Poetry Café, Brave New Voices, Schaubühne, Ordkraft, Poetry Slam Rotterdam just to name a few.