KARINE POLWART

BBC Radio 2 Folk Singer Of The Year 2018, Karine Polwart is a multi-award-winning Scottish songwriter and musician, as well as a theatre maker, storyteller, spoken-word performer and published essayist. Her songs combine folk influences and myth with themes as diverse as Donald Trump’s corporate megalomania, Charles Darwin’s family life and the complexities of modern parenthood. She sings traditional songs too and writes to commission for theatre, animation and thematic collaborative projects. Karine is six-times winner at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, including twice for Best Original Song.  

In association with The Royal Lyceum Theatre and Edinburgh International Festival 2016, Karine wrote, musically directed, and performed Wind Resistance, her critically acclaimed debut work for theatre. A poetic meditation on midwifery, ecology, sanctuary, and solidarity, it combines elements of memoir, essay, myth, sound art and song. Wind Resistance won the BEST MUSIC & SOUND AWARD at the CATS (Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland) 2017 and Karine was also shortlisted for the BEST ACTOR 'Scottish Oscar' in the Sunday Herald Culture Awards.