A University of Worcester student has been selected as Worcestershire’s youngest ever Poet Laureate.
Freddie Barker, 22, is in the third year of her degree in Film Production and Screenwriting and will graduate this September.
The year-long tenure is awarded by the Worcestershire Literary Festival and Fringe Community Interest Company (CIC), which was established to promote literature and poetry in the region.
Freddie had to perform two poems as one of three finalists for the role. She said: “It was surreal. I was so happy just to make it to the final and to have that on my CV. When they announced that I’d won, I was just ecstatic.”
Freddie says poetry was never something she enjoyed until she came to university: “I was a bit scared off by GCSE poetry, but when I came to university, I joined the poetry society and found I really loved the community and the people.”
Freddie continued: “Being at the University of Worcester has genuinely opened so many doors for me, it has changed everything, from my confidence to my ability.”
Freddie has a busy year ahead of her, with events including performing at the Ledbury Poetry Festival Celebration Day and Worcester Fringe.
“Overall, I’ll be an ambassador for poetry and literary arts,” said Freddie. “My goal is to bring poetry into the forefront of Worcester’s creative scene. We have beautiful murals, we have buskers and musicians, but we don’t have a lot of poetry in our day-to-day lives.”
She continued: “I want people from all walks of life to get involved, because some people see it as something that’s not for them, so there’s some myth busting to do.”
To find out more about the course that Freddie took and learn about the societies and clubs on offer at the University of Worcester, visit worcester.ac.uk.