Jasmine Gray

Profession: Poet / writer / evil corporate day job. Winner of the inaugural First Light Writer’s Prize 2021.

Tell us about you: I love exploring hybrid texts, explorations of the body, the monstrous, the feral, women gone wild. I’m both nosey and narcissistic so love Pop Culture and writing about myself, sometimes at the same time. My first poetry pamphlet Let’s Photograph Girls Enjoying Life was published by Broken Sleep in 2019.

What inspires you? Communal, collective kindness. Dancing to 90s R&B. Hearty, vegetarian meals. Solid saxophone solos. Art that captures the in between, the lost moments, the indescribable.

What do you love about where you live? I’ve just moved from Liverpool to Leeds so I’m still discovering! Though, what the two cities share is a love of chatting to strangers. I love being in a city full of friends you’ve not-yet-met. 

What’s your favourite local hangout? Liverpool = Buyer’s Club or Maray. Leeds = Bundobust or The Tetley.

What would your superpower be? An expandable and retractable stomach so I can never get too full of a good meal but can always fit back in my trousers.

Tell us a secret. If I did that it would no longer be a secret…

writingsquad.com/squad-writer/jasmine-gray/

Twitter @jasgraywrites

Insta @jasminemaygray

jas-gray[at]hotmail.co.uk