Top, from left to right: Gill Lambert, Ian Harker, Katie Cecilia. Bottom, from left to right: Dr Amina Alyal, Edwin Stockdale, Caitlin McKenna, Professor Oz Hardwick.

National Poetry Day is an annual event organised by the Forward Arts Foundation, which invites everyone to share in the pleasure of poetry, as a powerful form of expression and creativity. This year’s theme is ‘counting’, an ode to poetry's impact on people's lives and a way to highlight its importance as a form of storytelling that continues to be significant in literature.

From lecturers to alumni and PhD students, the University has played a key role in building talent, with many published poets starting their journey here.

Dr Amina Alyal – Senior Lecturer in the School of Digital and Screen Media

Dr Amina Alyal has published two poetry collections: The Ordinariness of Parrots with Stairwell Books, 2015, and Season of Myths, Wordspace at Indigo Dreams, 2016. She has had poems published in several journals and magazines, including The House in the Forest from Hedgehog Poetry Press, 2020. She teaches Creative Writing and English at Leeds Trinity University and has also published scholarly research, specialising in Renaissance and Victorian literature. Amina leads on Leeds Trinity’s Open Mic events, where poets are invited to perform their work live.

Caitlin McKenna – MA Creative Writing alumna, 2021

Caitlin has been working as a writer across the North and performing at spoken word events and festivals, alongside getting poems published in various journals. In 2021, they were included in a Community of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP) reading list and nominated for a Pushcart Prize and the Griffin Poetry Prize. Their debut chapbook Now Say It Back was released by Bent Key Publishing in 2022. Co-founding literary affinity group Bone Down, Caitlin is dedicated to creating accessible, experimental artistic spaces.

Edwin Stockdale – Visiting Research Fellow, School of Digital and Screen Media

Edwin Stockdale is a poet from Chester, who has been published in numerous magazines and anthologies. Aventurine, his debut pamphlet collection, was published in September 2014 by Red Squirrel Press. His second pamphlet collection, The Glower of the Sun, was published by Red Squirrel Press in January 2019 and was launched at the Lit and Phil Library, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and the Scottish Poetry Library, Edinburgh. He is currently studying for a PhD in Creative Writing at Leeds Trinity University.

Gill Lambert – English and Writing (2010) and MA Creative Writing (2013) alumna

Gill is a poet and trainee teacher from North Yorkshire. She draws her ideas from snatches of conversations and the world around her. Gill has been published by Indigo Dreams, The Interpreter’s House and Beautiful Dragons, among others. She has won numerous poetry prizes, including the Ilkley Literature Festival Open Mic Competition, and has been publishing poetry collections with Yaffle Press since 2019.

Katie Cecilia – Psychology alumna, 2022

Katie Cecilia is a poet and mental health advocate with a strong passion for helping others. Through her authentic and heartfelt writing, she explores themes of healing, self-care, reflection and self-discovery. Katie started writing poetry in her early 20s as a way of processing feelings and deal with change. Through her words, Katie takes readers on a journey of personal growth and finding strength. Her first poetry collection, Growing, was published in September 2024.

Ian Harker – Honorary Fellow and Communication and Cultural Studies alumnus, 2005

Ian Harker is a poet and editor, co-founder of Strix magazine and an organiser of Leeds Lit Fest. He won the Templar Book & Pamphlet competition in 2015, which led to the publication of his two poetry collections, The End of the Sky that same year, and Rules of Survival in 2017. He has been shortlisted for the Troubadour and Bridport prizes, and a runner-up in the BBC Proms Poetry Competition. His next pamphlet, A - Z of Superstitions, is forthcoming from Yaffle Press. In 2023, Ian received an Honorary Fellowship from Leeds Trinity University for his services to poetry.

Oz Hardwick – Professor in the School of Digital and Screen Media

Professor Oz Hardwick is a multi-award-winning poet and academic, with a particular interest in prose poetry, whose work has been published and performed. He has published 13 poetry collections, several collaborative works, and has had numerous individual poems in anthologies and journals. Oz has contributed to many international conferences - including organising the first UK prose poetry conference in 2019. His latest anthology, Dancing about Architecture, co-edited with Professor Cassandra Atherton, was published in May 2024 by MadHat Press.

To find out more about English and Creative Writing at Leeds Trinity University, visit the website.