Posted on Wednesday 18th October 2023
Photo 1: Trinity Davis, Dawn Jutton & past Young Poet Laureates Mina Tideswell & Erin Gascoigne-Jones Photo 2: Trinity Davis & Mina Tideswell
Trinity Davis, aged 16 from Newcastle, has been chosen as the new Young Poet Laureate for Staffordshire.
Trinity was selected following an interview and performance of her poems, in front of a panel of judges including former Young Poet Laureate Mina Tideswell, current Poet Laureate Dawn Jutton and published and accomplished poet, Brenda Reed-Brown.
The judges were impressed by her level of performance and her ideas and ambitions for taking the role forward. Dawn Jutton who will be mentoring Trinity throughout the year, said:
“Trinity has already proven herself to be a young poet, dedicated to her craft and determined to share her joy of creative expression with others.
“She has many skills to offer and our common interest in all art forms will provide a great basis for a productive and exciting year.”
Trinity was officially inaugurated into her role at a special event celebrating 10 years of the Poet Laureateship that took place on National Poetry Day at Stafford Library.
Trinity, who is currently studying at Newcastle College, said: “I am so excited to start my year as Staffordshire Young Poet Laureate and to explore the opportunities it will open up for me.
“I absolutely adore poetry and I cannot wait to be able to share my adoration with an extended range of people. I am so ready to begin promoting poetry to people across Staffordshire and wish to help strengthen the poetry community in any way I can. I am honoured to be taking on the role from Mina and I am ready to explore every pathway I can that stems from this amazing opportunity. I am looking forward to my next year with Dawn and being able to promote poetry across Staffordshire.”
Victoria Wilson, Cabinet Member responsible for libraries at Staffordshire County Council said:
“I’m delighted to welcome Trinity to her new role as our Young Poet Laureate.
“It’s hard to believe but Trinity is our 10th young laureate and we are very much looking forward to seeing how she will develop over the coming year and how she will inspire others through her passion for poetry.
“I’d also like to thank outgoing post holder Mina Tideswell, who has done us proud over the last year and we offer her our very best wishes for the future.”
The initiative is run by Staffordshire County Council’s Libraries & Arts Service to promote a love of poetry and showcase the creative writing skills of young people across the county.