Megan Barker

Megan Barker is a writer with a background in theatre and performance. Her plays have been produced in theatres across the UK and abroad. She has also made numerous immersive performances for mundane or neglected public spaces, including a network of crypts, a toilet cubicle, a multi-storey car-park, a roof-top and a basketball court.

She lives in Wales. Her first novel, KIT, has recently been published to rave reviews. It tells a story of one life disrupted as another moves toward its end. It describes a call to intimacy in a state of emergency, in the face of inadequate and ill-fitting care for a protagonist in mental and emotional distress.

‘A very special voice… Blisteringly good… Pithy, poetic, melodic, intense… It’s clear why Barker’s plays propel folk into collaring their chums and telling them ‘you must see this.’ She has an ongoing heightened awareness of what that tingle factor feels like… Edgy, poetic and grotesque; funny yet bleakly brutal.’ – Mary Brennan, The Herald.

‘Megan Barker has a particular capacity to trace the finest line between humour and pain, tenderness and cruelty. She uses a kind of heightened dismantled language and somehow achieves the extraordinary paradox of expanding our view, by zooming in on the poetic detail. In layering observations, she creates an overall impression of a world shimmering with meaning.’

– Jackie Wylie, Artistic Director, National Theatre of Scotland.

Kit is a deeply affecting piece of writing, that both celebrates life’s complexities and raises awareness for the need for a more honest dialogue, free of shame, and for a more restful, accepting and holistic approach to mental distress. Megan has lived her own experiences of depression and anxiety, and is currently coming to terms with the traumatic fall-out from chemotherapy cancer treatment. Writing and performing is an emotional lifeline for Megan, as well as a professional creative practice.