There’s so much to be said about the Yorkshire region, especially when it comes to poetry and Literary events. Over the last few years, a growing amount of literature festivals have sprung up across the region, boasting some of the world’s most prestigious prize winning authors and poets.  This of course is great news, as it opens the door to the region as a welcoming and cultured place, where people can enjoy book readings combined with live poetry and performance. But what is more amazing, is when it comes to celebrating the word, Leeds is like a gold mine, so rich, beautiful and flavoursome, you’ll always want more.

There’s an array of talented and diverse writers, poets and spoken word artists right on the doorstep of the city, a stream of folk who craft the poetic forms, bringing life and art to an audience in a mixture of ways, from the more established works of Rommi Smith, Ian Duhig and Helen Mort to the gritty rawness Saju Ahmed, Rheima Robinson, Andy’Testament’Brooks, Jamal Gerald, to name but a few.

Of course one should not forget myself (Khadijah Ibrihiim) from the above line up. However, as an arts practitioner, I’m widely known as the poet who nurtures, mentors and directs young writers. So When it comes to supporting the next generation, I can confidently say Leeds is one of the only cities since 2004 to consistently host an annual Youth Poetry Slam and Lit Fest ‘Voices of a New Generation’ (VNG). These attract an astonishing amount of young people from across Leeds and beyond to pick up the pen, write creatively and perform in their schools, youth groups and at events.

Leeds is the only city and (Region) to win three out of four UK National Youth Poetry Slam Champions organised by London based Apple and Snakes. The first UK city to attend ‘Brave New Voices’ (BNV) International slam festival, USA, and take 2nd place out of 52 teams. One of the first and only cities to create an international award winning poetry documentary ‘We Are Poets’ which features the talent of Leeds Youth. It’s with this history that the city can safely say the written and spoken word is alive in the hands of youth expression.

So what’s led to this injection of youth creative energy? Projects such as Leeds Young Authors (LYA), which runs weekly workshops at Host Media Centre. Founded in 2003 by myself, the project offers a safe space for youth expression and career development. LYA’s main aim is to support the progress of young people, who are looking for avenues to express themselves from page to stage. Over the last 13 years LYA have seen a number of youth go onto pursue a career in the arts writing, producing or performance. Such as Zodwa Nyoni playwright, poet and author of Nine Lives and Bio Bio is Dead, Tila and Tavelah, appearance on BBC ‘The Voice’, Denmark Creary, who recently opened up for BBC 1xtra at the Leeds Arena and the list goes on. It’s the love, passion, and commitment of the work which is why LYA exists.  Despite little or no funding, it continues to produce work which puts Leeds at the top of its game, with outstanding youth mentors, facilitators and poets who find joy in giving back to young people.

Emilee Moore is visiting Research Fellow until the end of 2017 in the School of Education at the University of Leeds. In coming to Leeds, one of her aims is to link up with out-of-school programs that are engaging with children and young people through literacy in critical and creative ways. She is currently collaborating with Leeds Young Authors in seeking to understand the socially transformative potential of spoken word poetry, a powerful artistic practice and as a transnational youth culture connecting young people around the globe. Through spoken word poetry, young authors are empowered to use their ideas, their words, their voices, their bodies and their emotions as catalysts for social change.

As one LYA poet comments, his poetry is the only means through which he feels he is being listened to. Emilee’s goal is to draw on experiences and expertise developed outside of mainstream classrooms, such as in LYA, in contributing to socially transformative pedagogical practices in schools, through her role as a teacher educator.

But language and words are just as powerful in everyday life and community as Malika Booker, poet and author of Pepper Seeds explains;
“I’m a new Leeds resident who stumbled into The city and fell in love. There’s a hospitality here which includes each passenger’s automatic thank you to bus drivers as they exit, or unsolicited but welcome advice from sales assistants, strangers on the street or even bank managers about where to get cheap internet, good fish and chips or savings for a mortgage.

“Chapeltown heaves with stories, a fact demonstrated by the local’s relationship with their geographical space. Here official street signs, buildings, or local parks bear no relationship to the names uttered by the locals. So when asked to meet someone by the Rec – the person really means ‘The Norma Hutchinson park’ in Chapeltown. As an outsider I would query these discrepancies to be regaled with stories riddled with historical and personal anecdotes.

“Chapeltown is a very close-knit African Caribbean community so introductions raise questions like – who is his/her people? Alas I am always bereft having to reveal no kinship ties due to having recently migrated here. Yet it is fascinating to witness a local’s introduction. The person’s Christian and family name would be exchanged with a strong emphasis on their surname, where they lived, whose daughter or son they are. It would be a variation on “you know so and so who used to live by x and was married to y, well it’s her mother’s sister. This is all very fascinating raw material for a poet like myself especially since I moved to Chapeltown from Brixton (London) after being appointed a Douglas Caster Cultural Fellow in the Faculty of English (at the University of Leeds).

“I’m here as a poet/ theatre maker to research the burial rituals within the Caribbean community and use these as stimulus for a book of poems and an interactive theatre piece. People here are eager to participate in my research project, even extending invitations to funerals and recommending other perspective participants. Chapeltown pulses with oral history and it’s my pleasure to be here as a poet interacting with and recording the fascinating socio-cultural history of these people and this place.”

There are a number of programs around the city and region doing great work like Ilkley young writers, First floor, West Yorkshire playhouse, Sustained Theatre Yorkshire and The writing squad Sheffield. As well as publishing houses such as Peepal Tree Press PTP, the biggest publishers of Caribbean Black British Literature based in Burley Leeds.

Photos by Bokehgo