Woodzy and Iffat Rahman have been announced as Crawley’s first ever Poet Laureates at a celebration event on National Poetry Day (October 1) at Creative Crawley’s venue in County Mall.
Local poetry legend and host, Woodzy, will take on the role for the first year, with Iffat Rahman, a poetically powerful young rising star who has reached viral TikTok success, taking over the reins in year two.
Crawley’s Poet Laureates will celebrate the town, connect with local people through poetry, and encourage more people locally to get involved in poetry. The Laureates will be in post over 2027, Crawley’s 80th year as it exists today, marking its establishment as a new town in 1947.
The scheme is run by New Writing South, the literature development agency for the South East, funded by Arts Council England and the launch is supported by Creative Crawley.
Woodzy said: ‘I am extremely excited to be doing this role in Crawley. I’ve done lots of work in Crawley over the last few years and there’s lots going on here now. It’s vital to provide a platform to bring together local creatives and help shine a light on the amazing stories that can come from Crawley.’
The standard of applicants was very high. Two poets have been chosen as they both have much to offer through their work and the communities they will connect with. While they will take separate years, they are also both excited to collaborate.
Iffat said: ‘Crawley is my home, born and brought up here for most of my life. Holding this position means I get to represent this town and support in putting it on the map in terms of creativity. I’m really excited to work with global majority women in the town. As a Sri Lankan artist myself, I know how hard it is to try and get people in this demographic to continue the arts post 16. I’d really love to encourage my community to keep picking up the pen, paint brush or mic, even when the other parts of life seem to get in the way.’
Woodzy is an award winning Flo Poet, 2x TEDx Speaker and winner of UK unsigned 2019. He has performed on BAFTA winning TV show Life And Rhymes also on Sky Sports Fight Night Live at Wembley Arena. He said, in his term as laureate he is ‘extremely excited to be doing this role in Crawley. I’m excited to bring together local creatives and help shine a light on the amazing stories locally. I have previously run events here with the incredible Creative Crawley. I’m looking to connect with as many people from Crawley as possible. My main mission is to change peoples’ perception of poetry. It’s not just for one type of people, poetry is for everyone and is everywhere when you look close enough.’
Roy McFarlane, former Birmingham Poet Laureate will be mentoring both Woodzy and Iffat. He said, Woodzy and Iffat Rahaman encompass all the hallmarks of a laureate; bold, innovative, lyrical excellence and a desire to make poetry known in every corner of Crawley. Congratulations.’
