Plymouth Young City Laureate 2023
Literature Works is delighted to announce young poet, playwright and artist Mimi Jones (they/them) as the Plymouth Young City Laureate of 2023.
Young writers aged between 14 and 19 at the time of entry, who live, work or study in Plymouth were invited to send in samples of their creative writing on the topics of ‘Plymouth: A Welcoming City’ and #WritingCommunity. They all told us what they’d do with the role if they became Plymouth Young City Laureate.
The Laureateship is a partnership between Literature Works, Plymouth City Council, Plymouth Culture and With Flying Colours. It gives a young writer the opportunity to represent their city in words, while also developing their creative practice through writing commissions and events.
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 (they/them) 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.
Photo credit: Sarah Packer