Alumna appointed as Young Poet Laureate for London

In her new position, she will provide reflections on current events in London as well as working with communities to get young people interested in poetry. The second Young Poet Laureate ever, she was selected from a shortlist of six poets from ages 18 to 25.

Her time at Exeter was important to her. Just after she graduated, she wrote a blog post about what it meant to her and reflected on her time at Exeter. “University is much more than the degree certificate you slave away for.” She wrote. “It hurls you into an environment where the people around you have come from extremely different backgrounds, it tests your ability to remain strong in who it is you are whilst being open to all the new people you come into contact with,” She added.

While at Exeter she contributed to the Exeter Poetry Festival and wrote her dissertation on creative writing. You can read more of her blog post here.

Below is an extract from one of her poems, titled Shape Shifters:

After the main, which did not satisfy me,
I go to the bathroom, apply red lipstick I was not wearing to begin with.
When I come back you pull out my chair, 
look at my mouth like it is a burning bush you want to die in.
Maybe I will open up to you like blooming flowers in jasmine tea,
maybe I will always wear this lipstick now -
it makes you stare like I could burn the knowledge out of you,
like I have the answer to this existence,
and am just picking the right moment to interrupt.

Follow Aisling on Twitter at @_AislingF, and keep up to date on the Young Poet Laureate of London through the hashtag #YPLLondon.