Poetry / News
Sukina Noor named as new city poet
A poet who grew up in Easton has been named as Bristol’s new city poet.
Sukina Noor said that she is “beyond thrilled” to be able to occupy role for the next two years, adding that “it means so much to be given this opportunity to connect to my city through the art of poetry”.
Noor will become Bristol’s fifth city poet, writing ten commissioned poems, performing at public events, and engaging in workshops and activities with communities across the city.
The role is now managed by Lyra Bristol Poetry having previously been run by the former Bristol Ideas.
Lyra co-director, Danny Pandolfi, said the “unique public-facing role… (is) about amplifying the voices of others and communicating the views of an inspiring, progressive and culturally diverse city through your own work, and capturing the feelings and ideas of the people who make Bristol so brilliant”.
Sukina Noor was selected as the new city poet by a panel of five judges representing different cultural institutions in Bristol – photo: Sukina Noor
Noor, who is a poet, spoken-word artist, playwright, workshop facilitator and educator, event curator and public speaker has toured extensively across the UK, Europe, America and Africa.
Her debut poetry collection, Love and Longing: Yearning for the Face of God, was released in October 2023 and her spoken word album of the same name will be released in 2025.
She said: “I am a daughter of Bristol, born and raised in Easton and after 18 years of living in London I returned home to lay my roots in the city of my birth just before the pandemic hit, so this role is a stunning opportunity to reconnect, to listen to the pulse of my city and pay attention to its heart beat.
“Being chosen for this is a beautiful homecoming gift, a way to reconnect to the soil where I took my first steps, whose streets shaped me and impacted the way I exist in the world.
“I am excited to explore how much Bristol has changed and how much has stayed the same and what new worlds are brimming beneath the surface.”
Noor’s first performance as Bristol city poet will be at the official city poet handover event on October 8 at Waterstones in the Galleries, with the event also including a reading from outgoing city poet Kat Lyons, launching their pamphlet of poems. For more information, visit www.lyrafest.com/#e114211
Main photo: Sukina Noor
Read next:
Our newsletters emailed directly to you
