poet
actor
writer
curator 
producer 
theatre maker

 

Maedb Joy is a poet, writer, performer, theatre-maker, community organiser and founder of multiple creative platforms centring sex worker artists. Her work explores class, sex work, queerness and womanhood. She trained at Guildhall School of Music and Drama (ranked 1st in the UK for arts and drama) and is an alumna of the Royal Court Playwriting Group. In 2020, she was nominated by Guildhall for the Evening Standard Future Theatre Fund in the Devising category. 

 

Maedb is a three-time winner of the Sexual Freedom Awards: Writer of the Year (2024), Sexquisite – Event of the Year (2024), and Riot – Event of the Year (2025).

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Her professional credits include: performing her original poetry at the 2024 Women’s March to over 100,000 people, as well as appearances at the V&A, Mighty Hoopla Festival, Houses of Parliament, BBC, Tate St Ives, Tour De Moon, Fat Out Fest, Ourgasm, Bishopsgate Institute, Rich Mix, Camden People’s Theatre, VAULT Festival, Sounds of the Other City, Institute of Contemporary Arts, The Vagina Museum and Polyester Zine.

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She is the founder and artistic director of Sexquisite Events, a performing arts company platforming sex worker artists through theatre, cabaret and nightlife, and the co-founder of Riot Party, a sex-positive queer rave producing large-scale, sold-out events in London, Manchester and Bristol. Both platforms are committed to creating paid creative opportunities for sex workers, as well as using art and entertainment as a tool for social change.

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In 2025, she launched The Sexquisite Podcast, which centres sex worker stories in a socio-political context – exploring identity, activism, and who the community are beyond the job. She is also spearheading the UK’s first official national celebration of Sex Worker Pride, and is currently developing an autobiographical drama for screen.

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Maedb guest lectures at Central School of Speech and Drama on “Sex Work and Feminist Performance” and delivers socially engaged arts workshops across a range of communities.