Lydia Kennaway

Writer in residence 2021/22

Lydia Kennaway’s debut poetry pamphlet, 'A History of Walking', was published by HappenStance Press in April 2019 and reprinted in November 2019. She earned an MA in Writing Poetry from Newcastle University in 2019, winning the Academic Prize for Best Overall Performance. Her work has appeared in ten anthologies, and in magazines including The Rialto, Raceme, Poetry & Audience, Strix, and Ink Sweat & Tears. She has given readings at the Leeds Lit Fest, the Newcastle Poetry Festival, the Ilkley Literature Festival and Poetry at Aldeburgh.

Lydia won the Flambard Poetry Prize in 2017, and was commended in the 2020 Magma Competition. She was longlisted for the National Poetry Competition (2013), the Rialto Nature Poetry Competition (2018) and the Ginkgo Prize (2019). She has been shortlisted for The Bridport Prize (2018, 2020) and the York Poetry Prize (2020).

Lydia is a New Yorker who has lived in Yorkshire for many years.