Young City Poet Laureate for 2023 announced
Literature Works have announced Plymouth's Young Laureate for this year after running a competition for people between 14 and 19 years old
Last updated 21st Feb 2023
After running a competition for the city's 14 to 19-year-olds, the Plymouth Young City Laureate has been announced for 2023.
Poet, playwright and artist Mimi Jones has been given this year's accolade following the contest, run by Literature Works, asking the city's young people to send in samples of their creative writing on the topics of ‘Plymouth: A Welcoming City’ and #WritingCommunity.
It's run as a partnership between Literature Works, Plymouth City Council, Plymouth Culture and With Flying Colours - with the opportunity offered to one young writer who then gets the chance to represent their city in words.
It also helps the city's young people develop their own creative writing style, through being offered the chance to get involved with events throughout the year, as well as through special commissions.
Helen Chaloner, Chief Executive of Literature Works said: “It’s such a positive for a city to support and celebrate a Young City Laureate and Plymouth can be particularly proud of Mimi. They are such a committed, engaging young creative and I’m sure will do Plymouth proud in the role.”
During their Laureateship, Mimi will receive three paid writing commissions and will perform at several events in Plymouth across the year alongside other writers. Speaking about their appointment, Mimi said:
“I’m honoured to have the chance to keep working on my writing as the new Plymouth Young City Laureate. We have such an amazing queer and neurodiverse community that I am thrilled to work with further, and to share more writing as a queer, autistic writer.”
Mimi Jones is a young poet, playwright and artist based in Plymouth.
They primarily write about love from a queer and autistic point of view, but also enjoy ‘slice of life’ plays and fiction. Alongside reading their work at open mics and working on their first anthology, they also host their own events with QueerOutLoud - helping find and share queer creatives around the city.