As part of our new ‘Apart Together’ digital project for 2021, The Poetry Business has partnered up with The Writing Squad to host a digital residency with a Squad poet each month. Each poet will be producing and posting digital content for The Poetry Business, such as blog posts, audio recordings, writing prompts and more.
Lydia Allison is our Digital Poet-In-Residence for April.
Lydia Allison is a poet, writing facilitator, creative mentor, and tutor. She is currently working with several writing groups, hosts writing sessions in the People’s History Museum in Manchester, and works in Rotherham schools on creative projects with young people. She has been involved in a number of projects and collaborations, including Stevie Ronnie’s ‘A Diary of Windows and Small Things’, Doncaster Arts’ activity books for lockdown, and, previously, Ilkley Literature Festival’s ‘Dancing with Words’. Her writing is often inspired by her working life, which spans from being a bridal consultant, to an overseas English teacher. Additionally, she is inspired by a love of food and the connections we make over the dining table. She is a graduate of the Writing Squad and continues to regularly work with them. Lydia has appeared a number of times in print and online, including The Result Is What You See Today, Introduction X, Surfing the Twilight, Poetry Salzburg Review, PN Review, Feral, Product, Pop! Goes my Heart, Ink, Sweat & Tears, and elsewhere. You can read more at lydiaallison.com, or follow her (and a series of Love Island inspired blackout poetry) on twitter @lydiarallison
For her residency, Lydia will be blogging, occupying The Poetry business’ Instagram account throughout April, posting writing prompts, close readings of poems, and running ‘writing time’ sessions on Instagram Live to help our audiences to build some protected writing time into their week. These will take place at 10.30pm Monday 5th 5.30pm on Saturday 10th, 12.30pm on Sunday 18th, and 7.30am on Monday 26th. She will also be hosting an open mic event where audiences can share their favourite poems, as well as some of their own work.
