Joe Santamaria is a tutor, freelance writer and editor, co-host of Beyond the Verse, and the lead analyst at Poem Analysis. He first fell in love with poetry as a teenager and has since gained a degree in English and Related Literature from the University of York and a Masters in Irish Literature from Trinity College Dublin. He is one of the best-reviewed literature tutors in the UK and some of his favourite poets include Federico Garcia Lorca, Louise Gluck, and Michael Longley.

Maiya Dambawinna is a poet, English Literature graduate and co-host of Beyond the Verse.

After winning Foyle Young Poet of the Year in 2018, Maiya has since gone on to publish work in Acumen, Pulp Poets Press, Iceberg Tales, SINK, Pink Trolley and more, winning the 2022 MONO. Poetry Prize for her poem ‘Five Sonnets (Confessions for Stomach Lining)’. She has performed live on BBC Radio 4’s ‘The Verb’ with Ian McMillan, and at various festivals across the UK.

With a Masters in Twentieth and Twenty-First Century Literary Studies, her work is focused on the study of contemporary poetry, with a particular interest in postcolonial narratives. Now working and living in London, Maiya celebrates her Northern roots – having been raised in Leeds, England – and her Sri Lankan-English heritage.