2026 New Northern Poets

Pamela Crowe

Pamela Crowe is the author of The Bell Tower (The Emma Press, 2022) and Bird family (Live Canon, forthcoming). Her work has been published by The Poetry Society, Winchester Poetry Festival, Live Canon, The Poetry Archive, Spelt Magazine, exhibited at Leeds Art Gallery, shortlisted for the Bridport Poetry Prize and the Northern Debut Award 2025, and longlisted for the National Poetry Competition.

I’m delighted to be selected for the New Northern Poets programme and have the opportunity to work with Word Up North, The Rialto, Stand Magazine and Poetry@Leeds. I studied English Literature and Theatre Studies at the University of Leeds so this recognition is wonderful.

You can find out more about Pamela’s work via her website: https://pamelacrowe.com/

Instagram: @crowe_pamela
Facebook: Pamela Crowe
Threads: crowe_pamela
X: pamela__crowe (with a double underscore)
TikTok: crowe.pamela

Nicky Kippax

Nicky Kippax is a Northern Writers’ Award winner and her work is widely published – most recently in The London Magazine, Poetry Oxford, PN Review, The Rialto and Poetry News. She has received two Forward Prize nominations for best single poem (written). Nicky has been shortlisted for The Brotherton Prize, The Bridport Prize, The Ginkgo Prize and The Bath Fiction Prize. She lives in York where she co-hosts Rise Up! – a celebration of poetry and the spoken word – and is editing her first collection.

It was such thrilling news to be selected as a New Northern Poet 2026 – and I can’t wait for the role to begin. I’m particularly looking forward to working alongside brilliant writers and expanding my network. The chance to read at Ilkley Literature Festival is really exciting, too. I’m grateful for this opportunity and I’m planning to make the most of every second.

Nicky has recently been longlisted for the 2026 Forward Prize for Best Single Poem Written.

Instagram: @nickykippaxwrites

Wendelin Law

Wendelin Law is a writer from Hong Kong. She is the winner of the Edwin Morgan Poetry Award 2024 and the Verve Poetry Festival Competition 2023. She was also awarded 2nd prize for the Rialto x RSPB Nature & Place Poetry Competition 2025. Her works can be found in Cha: An Asian Literary Journal, Gutter, Hillfire Anthology, Magma, PN Review, Propel, Voice & Verse Poetry Magazine, and elsewhere. Currently based in Sheffield, she is working on the manuscript of her debut poetry collection commended by the James Berry Poetry Prize 2024.

As an immigrant from Hong Kong, displacement is a theme I communicate often; I’m looking forward to meeting new writer friends and sharing poetry which interrogate themes of dictatorship, oppression, war, historical trauma etc. Through this programme, I aim to produce works that connect Hong Kong’s and the North’s protest poetry.

Visit her website to learn more: https://wendelinlaw.wixsite.com/wendylawwrites

Instagram: @wendylawwrites
X: @wendylawwrites

Becky May

Becky May is a Manchester-based poet and graduate of the Manchester Writing School. She works as a Poet Mentor for the Comino Foundation in partnership with Manchester Poetry Library, supporting Poets in Residence to deliver workshops within secondary school settings. Becky is a strong advocate for holding community in writing and can often be found at spoken word events, poetry festivals and workshops across the North East.

In October 2024, she joined the team at Verbose MCR, Manchester’s longest running spoken word night. Her work has appeared in PN Review, 14 Magazine and Propel Magazine, amongst others.

I am overjoyed to have been chosen as a New Northern Poet, an opportunity I know will be truly enriching for my poetry journey. I am really looking forward to being part of a supportive community of poets and mentors and seeing what emerges.

You can find out more about Becky’s work via her website: https://www.beckymaywriter.com/

Instagram – @beckymaywriter
Substack – Becky May / The Poetry Stack

Barsa Ray

Barsa Ray’s poetry has been published by Magma, Peepal Tree Press, Covert Literary, Theleme (University of Lisbon), DEFRA funded Everyone’s a Seed (Leeds Trinity University), Xavier Review, and Indian Literature among others. She was highly commended in the Smeaton 300 Poetry Competition, National Poetry Centre, Leeds, and listed on The Chestnut Review, and The Rebecca Swift Foundation. Her short story publications include Wasafiri, Mslexia, Peepal Tree, Dahlia Press and Sans Press. Her story has been nominated for the BBC National Short Story Award 2026.

I was shortlisted for NNP in 2025, and was excited and disappointed in equal measure to have got so close but not won a place. This time, I made it! The feeling is one of delight and disbelief.

Instagram: @raybarsa
Facebook: @barsa.ray.7
X: @storysoldier

Spencer Wood

Spencer Wood (he/him) is a writer and facilitator and living in Leeds. His poetry has been published in journals and anthologies such as And Other Poems, Fourteen Poems, Broken Sleep’s Masculinity Anthology, a Verve Poetry Prize Anthology, Strix and Modern Queer Poets among others. Spencer’s creative non-fiction has been published in Hinterland and nominated for the Pushcart Prize. His debut pamphlet fain will be published by Seedlings in July 2026. Spencer works for an arts charity leading shared reading groups in criminal justice settings across the north.

Being selected as a New Northern Poet is both incredibly exciting and a real confidence boost. There aren’t many opportunities like this out there for emerging Poets, so I feel very lucky to be chosen and can’t wait to get started.

Instagram: @spenceriwood