Poet chosen for radio show

A young poet is set be one of the New Voices for BBC Radio.
Poet Laura Potts. Picture by Mark AnthonyPoet Laura Potts. Picture by Mark Anthony
Poet Laura Potts. Picture by Mark Anthony

Laura Potts, 21, from Wakefield, is one of three people chosen to write for BBC Radio 3’s The Verb with Ian McMillan.

Laura was selected from thousands of applicants to become one of the three New Voices. She was chosen along with writers Sarah Sayeed and Kirsty Taylor.

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The Verb New Voices scheme is a joint initiative between BBC Radio 3, New Writing North, The Writing Squad and Arvon. It will help them create an innovative new piece of work for broadcast on Radio 3, as well as for live performance. The winners will receive expert mentoring and development support at BBC MediaCity in Salford and could take a residential writing course with Arvon.

The writers will perform at ‘Contains Strong Language’, the BBC’s poetry festival in Hull, and record their work for The Verb at BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival 2018 at Sage Gateshead. The writers will also receive a £2,000 bursary each to support their participation.

It’s not the first time Laura has won a prize for her work. She was also named as a Foyle Young Poet in 2012 and 2013 while still at school and has been published by various magazines in recent years. Laura said: “I left university at Christmas to write literature rather than write about it, and since then I’ve been shortlisted for a Charter Oak Award for Best Historical Fiction in Colorado and will be published as one of The Poetry Business’ New Poets come October. And now this. My project, Sweet The Mourning Dew, will examine the experiences of ordinary people living with wartime loss in the north of England.”

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