Richard O'Brien named Birmingham Poet Laureate

Richard O'Brien has been named Birmingham's new Poet Laureate, and 15-year-old Aliyah Begum from Acocks Green has been chosen as the city's Young Poet Laureate.

The announcements were made at a National Poetry Day event at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire on 4 October, as part of the Birmingham Literature Festival.

The new laureates

Richard O'Brien teaches Shakespeare and creativity at the University of Birmingham, where he also studied for an MA and a PhD at the Shakespeare Institute. He will hold the title for 2018 to 2020, succeeding Matt Windle, and becomes the city's 21st Poet Laureate.

He has published three poetry pamphlets, and his work has appeared in publications including The White Review. In 2017, he won an Eric Gregory Award from the Society of Authors. His plays have been staged at the Arcola Theatre in London and given readings at the REP. He lives in the Jewellery Quarter.

Aliyah Begum, a Year 11 pupil at King Edward VI High School, becomes the 14th Young Poet Laureate, succeeding Nyanda Foday. She has been exploring spoken word poetry through a weekly club at school and regularly performs at the Poetry Jam open mic night. She has also performed at the REP.

Ambassadors for poetry

Both laureates will spend their two years writing new poems and promoting poetry across the city, as part of a scheme run by the Library of Birmingham. Richard will write poems for special occasions, lead workshops to inspire others to try reading and writing poetry, and mentor the new Young Poet Laureate.

Councillor Jayne Francis, cabinet member for education, skills and culture, congratulated them both. "Birmingham is home to a wealth of literary talent and our poet laureates have played an important part in promoting poetry for over 20 years, so I'm eager to see what works they produce," she said.

She added that the library's profile as a cultural destination would help the new laureates make poetry accessible to people across the city.

A tough choice

Jonathan Davidson, who chaired the selection panel and runs the region's literature development agency, said choosing this year's laureates had been particularly difficult.

"We had an excellent range of applications from some very talented poets. Our two new Poet Laureates will be wonderful ambassadors for the city and have some great ideas for helping people get involved in poetry," he said.

This year's panel also included representatives of Birmingham Libraries, Poetry on Loan and the Verve Poetry Festival.

Festival season

The announcement opened the Birmingham Literature Festival, which runs until 14 October, bringing writers, poets and readers to venues across the city.

Birmingham's Poet Laureate scheme has run for more than two decades, and the Young Poet Laureate role gives teenagers a platform to share their work and develop as writers. Aliyah said she was looking forward to sharing her poetry and learning from others during her time in the role.