About Us
Our aims and objectives are:
to promote an awareness of the values of equality and peace,
to encourage and promote creativity, expression and excellence through peace poetry,
to work in partnership with Leeds-based organisations to create an environment for the exploration and discussion of the selected theme,
to organise peace poetry competitions annually or biennially for schools and adults in Leeds,
to encourage inclusive engagement and participation in the Leeds Peace Poetry competition,
to invite a celebrated poet or poets to preside as chief judge for each competition,
to organise a gala celebration event for shortlisted and winning entries of the competition,
to create a strong presence and a high profile for Leeds Peace Poetry,
to publicise the winning and highly recommended peace poems.
to promote an awareness of the values of equality and peace,
to encourage and promote creativity, expression and excellence through peace poetry,
to work in partnership with Leeds-based organisations to create an environment for the exploration and discussion of the selected theme,
to organise peace poetry competitions annually or biennially for schools and adults in Leeds,
to encourage inclusive engagement and participation in the Leeds Peace Poetry competition,
to invite a celebrated poet or poets to preside as chief judge for each competition,
to organise a gala celebration event for shortlisted and winning entries of the competition,
to create a strong presence and a high profile for Leeds Peace Poetry,
to publicise the winning and highly recommended peace poems.
Who We Are |
Leeds Peace Poetry was established in 2003 by a group of people connected with Together for Peace, Leeds City Council - Education Leeds (now Leeds Children's Services) and Arts at Trinity. Since then, many others have become involved. We are constantly looking for volunteers from Leeds-based organisations and individuals who wish to help us to further our aims.
Currently, our steering group of ten members is made up of individuals with a track record of promoting equality and peace and with enthusiasm for Leeds Peace Poetry. Organisations represented include the University of Leeds (School of English), Leeds City Council Children's Services (Schools) and Leeds Library and Information Services. Officers are Rehana Minhas (Chair), Professor John Whale (Vice-Chair) and Richard Wilcocks (Secretary, Website) leedspeacepoetry@gmx.co.uk From a University of Leeds perspective, we have been delighted to join in with this long-standing and successful event since it coincided with the Olympics seven years ago. Since then, we have had the privilege of reading and selecting the prize-winners along with our distinguished chief judges and have been able to offer venues on campus for our prize-giving gala celebrations. From my own point of view as Director of the University of Leeds Poetry Centre - and as a poet myself - this is obviously a fantastic opportunity to engage with a wider public in the making of poems. Most of our entries in the past few years have been in the Primary School category; and here we have been delighted by the enthusiasm and creativity shown by both children and teachers across the Leeds region. One of the most enjoyable aspects of the last few competitions has been the work not just of individuals, but of whole classes of children - so much so that we have added a new class category to our list of prizes. The Leeds Peace Poetry competition also, of course, gives us the chance to demonstrate how poetry matters - how it can give powerful expression to some of the key issues of our time. John Whale 2019 OUR JUDGES ARE PICTURED BELOW Jason Allen-Paisant is from a village called Coffee Grove in Manchester, Jamaica. At present, he’s a lecturer in Caribbean Poetry & Decolonial Thought in the School of English at the University of Leeds, where he’s also the Director of the Institute for Colonial and Postcolonial Studies. He serves on the editorial board of Callaloo: Journal of African Diaspora Arts and Letters. He holds a doctorate in Medieval and Modern Languages from the University of Oxford, and he speaks seven languages. He lives in Leeds with his partner and two daughters. Malika Booker was born in London, UK, to Guyanese and Grenadian parents. She grew up in Guyana and returned to the UK aged 13, with her parents. She began writing and performing poetry while studying anthropology at Goldsmiths, University of London. She founded the poetry collective Malika's Kitchen, which also included Nick Makoha. Her first collection of poetry, Pepper Seed, was published by Peepal Tree Press in 2013 and was shortlisted for the Seamus Heaney Centre prize for best first full collection published in the UK and Ireland. She was the inaugural Poet In Residence at the Royal Shakespeare Company. 
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