2022 Author in Residence
Leia John is a writer, human rights activist and seminarian based in New York, USA. The motivating force for Leia is authenticity. She writes about her life with no punches pulled, no prisoners taken and with the subtlety of a bulldozer. With each poem crafted she takes aim at the expectations imposed upon women, seminarians and human rights workers – then blasts them with double barrels, leaving behind a far more nuanced picture of people in these roles.
Her writing as been described as, “refreshing, well-crafted, authentic poetry. It has edge, it challenges, grates, is funny and above and beyond and including the effing and blinding – it has a lot to say.” Hobbies include hot baths, baby talking her Bullmastiff, shit-posting, fan-girling over Ace Frehley costumes – particularly the Dynasty era – and arguing biblical interpretations with assholes on the internet that don’t know what the fuck they’re talking about.