{{Short description|English poet and writer (born 1996)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Use British English|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox writer | name = Laura Potts | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | pseudonym = | birth_name = Laura Iréna Potts<ref>{{Cite web |title=About |url=https://laurapottspoetry.com/about/ |access-date=2018-05-23 |website=Laura Potts |language=en-GB}}</ref> | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1996|02|16}} | birth_place = Wakefield, England | occupation = Poet | language = English | nationality = British | citizenship = | education = | alma_mater = | genre = Poetry | notableworks = [https://ghostcitypress.com/poetry-15/2019/3/30/laura-potts 'The Night that Robin Died']<br/>''Sweet the Morning Dew'' | awards = Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award, 2012 & 2013<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><br/>The Maria Edgeworth Prize for Poetry in Ireland, 2018<ref name=":9" /> | signature = | signature_alt = | website = {{URL|https://laurapottspoetry.com/}} | portaldisp = }} '''Laura Potts''' (born 16 February 1996) is a poet and writer of radio drama from Wakefield, England.<ref name=":6" /> Commended for the Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award in 2012 and 2013, she was shortlisted in the Oxford Brookes International Poetry Competition 2017, the 2020 Manchester Writing Competition, and the Bridport Prize 2020 and 2021.
==Early life== Potts was born and brought up in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, where she lived as of 2023.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Clarke |first=Leanne |title=Wakefield community art project unveiled at City Fields |url=https://www.wakefieldexpress.co.uk/news/people/wakefield-community-art-project-unveiled-at-city-fields-4365285 |access-date=2025-01-29 |website=Wakefield Express |date=2023-10-09 |language=en-GB}}</ref> She initially studied English literature at the University of York, but left the course in 2016<ref name=":7" /> "to write literature rather than write about it".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wakefield poet chosen for new radio show |url=https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/wakefield-poet-chosen-for-new-radio-show-599775 |access-date=2025-01-29 |website=Yorkshire Evening Post |date=2017-07-15 |language=en-GB}}</ref>
==Career== Potts work mostly looks at "the restless topography of Yorkshire."<ref name=":6" /> Her work was featured in ''Acumen'', ''Southword'', ''Agenda'', ''The Moth'', ''Poetry Ireland Review'' and ''Poetry Salzburg Review'',<ref>{{Cite web |title=Acumen 100 – May 2021 |url=https://acumen-poetry.co.uk/acumen-100-may-2021/ |access-date=2025-01-29 |website=Acumen Poetry |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Southword 40 |url=https://munsterlit.ie/bookshop/southword-40/ |access-date=2025-01-29 |website=Munster Literature Centre |language=en-GB}}</ref> and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.<ref name=":0" /> She noted Dylan Thomas as an early influence;<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |title=Laura Potts |url=https://www.writingsquad.com/squad-writer/laura-potts/ |access-date=2025-01-28 |website=The Writing Squad |language=en-GB}}</ref> her grandmother moved Potts towards poetry. Potts read her poetry at the Wakefield Literature Festival, at Leeds University, BBC's Contains Strong Language Festival, and at Ilkley Literature Festival.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |title=Poetic voice |url=https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/arts-and-culture/books/poetic-voice-1770024 |access-date=2025-01-29 |website=The Yorkshire Post |date=2017-09-05 |language=en-GB}}</ref>
Early in her career, in 2012 and 2013, Potts was recognised by The Poetry Society. She was commended in the society's Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award for poets under 17.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> Her work was shortlisted for the Oxford Brookes International Poetry Competition<ref>{{Cite web |title=2017 Winners and shortlist |url=https://www.brookes.ac.uk/research/units/hss/centres/poetry-centre/international-poetry-competition/2017-winners-and-shortlist |access-date=2025-01-28 |website=Oxford Brookes University |language=en-GB}}</ref> and the Manchester Writing Competition. Mimi Khalvati, a judge in the Manchester competition, praised "above all the musicality" of Potts's work.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Manchester Writing Competition 2020 |url=https://www.mmu.ac.uk/writingcompetition/winners/2020 |access-date=2025-01-28 |website=Manchester Metropolitan University |language=en-GB}}</ref> In 2013, Potts became an Arts Council Northern Voices poet, and was chosen as a Lieder Poet at the University of Leeds in 2014.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Streeby |first=Jeff |title=Poetry: All Forms & Styles – Laura Potts: "Photographs" |url=https://ojalart.com/poetry-all-forms-styleslaura-pottsphotographs/ |access-date=2025-01-29 |website=O:JA&L |date=2020-02-14 |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Sunday Poem - Laura Potts |url=https://www.kimmoorepoet.co.uk/2016/11/27/sunday-poem-laura-potts |access-date=2025-01-29 |website=Kim Moore |date=2016-11-27 |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=FAVOURITE THINGS: Poet Laura Potts on what's great about Wakefield |url=https://www.wakefieldexpress.co.uk/lifestyle/favourite-things-poet-laura-potts-on-whats-great-about-wakefield-1050772 |access-date=2025-01-29 |website=Wakefield Express |date=2018-02-02 |language=en-GB}}</ref> In 2016, she worked at the Dylan Thomas Society's Birthplace Museum in Swansea, Wales.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Andrex |first=Jimmy |title=Poet's twilight moment crystallises life in lockdown |url=https://yorkshirebylines.co.uk/region/poets-twilight-moment-crystallises-life-in-lockdown/ |access-date=2025-01-29 |website=Yorkshire Bylines |date=2020-07-19 |language=en-GB}}</ref>
Potts's radio drama ''Sweet the Morning Dew'', looking at "people living with wartime loss in the north of England", aired on BBC Radio 3 at Christmas in 2017.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Foyle Friday 3: Jade Cuttle, Richard Osmond & Laura Potts |website=Young Poets Network |access-date=2025-09-07 |url=https://ypn.poetrysociety.org.uk/features/foyle-friday-jade-cuttle-richard-osmond-laura-potts/ |year=2018 |lang=en-GB}}</ref> This was part of The Verb New Voices scheme, a collaboration between four English organisations: BBC Radio 3, New Writing North,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lowes |first=Jude |title=Three writers selected for Verb New Voices 4 |url=https://newwritingnorth.com/three-writers-selected-verb-new-voices-4/ |access-date=2025-01-29 |website=New Writing North |date=2017-05-29 |language=en-GB}}</ref> The Writing Squad and Arvon.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Poet chosen for radio show |url=https://www.wakefieldexpress.co.uk/news/poet-chosen-for-radio-show-846441 |access-date=2025-01-28 |website=Wakefield Express |language=en-GB}}</ref> Potts later won the Mother’s Milk Books Writing Prize 2017,<ref name=":3" /> and was commended in the Gregory O'Donoghue Prize in 2018.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Robert Lipton wins Gregory O'Donoghue Prize |url=https://poetrysociety.org.uk/news/gregory-odonoghue/ |access-date=2025-01-30 |website=The Poetry Society |date=2018-05-08 |language=en-GB}}</ref> In 2019, she was commended for the Battered Moons Poetry Competition,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Members' competition successes: a round-up |url=https://poetrysociety.org.uk/news/compsuccess/ |access-date=2025-01-30 |website=The Poetry Society |date=2019-11-28 |language=en-GB}}</ref> and highly commended for the Edward Thomas Fellowship in 2020.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mitchell |first=Jeremy |title=Edward Cawston Thomas Poetry Competition 2020 winning poems |url=https://edward-thomas-fellowship.org.uk/2020/02/11/edward-cawston-thomas-poetry-competition-2020-winning-poems/ |access-date=2025-01-28 |website=The Edward Thomas Fellowship |date=2020-02-11 |language=en-GB}}</ref> Also in 2020, she was shortlisted for the Rebecca Swift Foundation's Women Poets' Prize 2020 (judged by Malika Booker, Pascale Petit and Liz Berry), alongside Alisha Dietzman, Cecilia Knapp and Warda Yassin.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Women Poets' Prize 2020: Shortlist |url=https://www.rebeccaswiftfoundation.org/news/women-poets-prize-2020-shortlist/ |access-date=2025-01-29 |website=Rebecca Swift Foundation |language=en-GB}}</ref> In 2020 and 2021, she was also shortlisted for the Bridport Prize.<ref name=":8">{{Cite web |title=Bridport Prize Shortlist 2020 |url=https://bridportprize.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/BRIDPORT-PRIZE-SHORTLISTS-2020.pdf |access-date=2025-01-30 |website=Bridport Prize |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref name=":10">{{Cite web |title=Bridport Prize Shortlists and Novel Long List 2021 |url=https://bridportprize.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/BRIDPORT-PRIZE-SHORTLISTS-AND-NOVEL-LONG-LIST-2021-FOR-WEBSITE-1.pdf |access-date=2025-01-30 |website=Bridport Prize |language=en-GB}}</ref>
In 2023, one of Potts's poems, 'Field Song', which was "written especially for the site", was engraved at City Fields in West Yorkshire. This was alongside two new pieces of art also installed at the site.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Healey |first=Shawna |title=City Fields: Sculptures celebrating Wakefield's natural environment find permanent home in new housing development |url=https://www.wakefieldexpress.co.uk/news/people/city-fields-sculptures-celebrating-wakefields-natural-environment-find-permanent-home-in-new-housing-development-4272683 |access-date=2025-01-30 |website=Wakefield Express |date=2023-08-30 |language=en-GB}}</ref> The poem is engraved into "impressive stone pieces" by the local stonemasons from Rayner Memorials in Normanton, West Yorkshire.<ref name=":5" /> In 2024, her work was anthologised in ''Five: a poetry anthology'', published by The Poetry Business as part of their New Poets List, alongside poems by four other poets: Helen Bowell, Prerana Kumar, Eva Lewis and Ruth Yates.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Bowell |first1=Helen |last2=Kumar |first2=Prerana |last3=Lewis |first3=Eva |last4=Potts |first4=Laura |last5=Yates |first5=Ruth |title=Five: a poetry anthology |url=https://poetrybusiness.co.uk/product/five-a-poetry-anthology/ |isbn=9781914914782 |publisher=The Poetry Business |year=2024 |language=en-GB}}</ref>
Potts, who was also on the Torbay Poetry Festival's Open Poetry Competition long list,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Results from Torbay Poetry Festival's Open Poetry Competitions |url=https://acumen-poetry.co.uk/results-from-this-years-torbay-poetry-festivals-open-poetry-competitions/ |access-date=2025-01-31 |website=Acumen Publications |language=en-GB}}</ref> is currently "working on [her] first collection" of poems.<ref name=":4" />
==Awards and honours== *2012: Commended, Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=2012 |url=https://poetrysociety.org.uk/competitions/foyle-young-poets-of-the-year-award/foyle-young-poets-of-the-year-award-2012/ |access-date=2025-01-27 |website=The Poetry Society |language=en-UK}}</ref> *2013: Commended, Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=2013 |url=https://poetrysociety.org.uk/competitions/foyle-young-poets-of-the-year-award/2013-2/ |access-date=2025-01-27 |website=The Poetry Society |language=en-UK}}</ref> *2017: Shortlisted, Oxford Brookes International Poetry Competition *2018: Mother’s Milk Books Writing Prize 2017<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Laura Potts wins Mother's Milk Books Writing Prize |url=https://poetrysociety.org.uk/news/laura-potts/ |access-date=2025-01-27 |website=The Poetry Society |date=2018-04-25 |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Bellamy |first=Teika |title=Results of the 2017 Mother's Milk Books Writing Prize |url=https://mothersmilkbooks.com/2018/04/24/results-of-the-2017-mothers-milk-books-writing-prize/ |access-date=2025-01-31 |website=Mother's Milk Books |date=2018-04-24 |language=en-GB}}</ref> *2018: 3rd place, Bristol Poetry Prize<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dominic Fisher wins Bristol Poetry Prize |url=https://poetrysociety.org.uk/news/dominicfisher/ |access-date=2025-01-29 |website=The Poetry Society |date=2018-05-08 |language=en-GB}}</ref> *2018: The Maria Edgeworth Prize for Poetry in Ireland<ref name=":9">{{Cite web |last=Thompson |first=Jessica |title=Celebrating 250 years of literary history in Edgeworthstown |url=https://www.longfordleader.ie/news/home/313662/celebrating-250-years-of-literary-history-in-edgeworthstown.html |access-date=2025-01-28 |website=Longford Live |date=2018-05-21 |language=en-GB}}</ref> *2020: Shortlisted, Bridport Prize<ref name=":8" /> *2020: Shortlisted, Manchester Writing Competition *2021: Shortlisted, Bridport Prize<ref name=":10" />
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Potts, Laura}} Category:1996 births Category:Living people Category:21st-century English poets Category:People from Wakefield Category:Writers from West Yorkshire Category:21st-century women poets Category:21st-century English women poets