Gutter teams up with Ledbury Critics.

Gutter is delighted to team up with the Ledbury Critics programme to host Memoona Zahid as an editor-in-residency for our landmark 25th issue, under the supervision of our Poetry Reviews Editor Shehzar Doja. The tenure period will see the critic guided through the process of editing and publishing reviews of contemporary poets from within the Scottish and international literary scene in print and online renditions of the magazine.

Dave Coates writes on teaming up with Gutter:

Part of our plan with Ledbury was to highlight the excellent work being done outside of the traditional publishing hub of London, and when it came to Scotland, Gutter was an easy choice. The magazine has done excellent work over the past few years to foreground work by Scottish writers of colour, culminating in the incredibly powerful issue 21, edited by Alycia Pirmohamed and Jay G. Ying, and the permanent appointment of Shehzar Doja as Poetry Reviews Editor, with whom we're delighted Memoona will be working and learning. We're very excited to see what comes out of their collaboration.

On the residency and role, Shehzar expresses:

Since the inception of the Ledbury Critics programme by Sandeep Parmar and Sarah Howe, the landscape of literary criticism by writers of colour in the UK has forever shifted in a positive momentum forward. The impact and precedence set by all the critics within the organisation has paved the way in reinvigorating the keen critical voices of so many previously unheard within the scope of the established literary scene and it is subsequently a privilege to play a role in mentoring the promising poet and critic Memoona for the duration of this residency and I too, am excited to see what comes from this collaboration.

In an explanation of the programme itself, Ledbury Critics shares:

The Ledbury Critics programme was established in 2017 to address the systemic barriers in poetry criticism that saw so few critics of colour building careers in these islands. This year, the programme has brought on nineteen new members, established a mentoring scheme to connect them with some of the finest critics at work today, and an editor-in-residency scheme to add vital practical experience to their repertoires. All being well, this year's programme will end in March 2022, with a five-day residency in Ledbury.

Further information on The Ledbury Critics programme (including application and more) can be found here: https://www.poetry-festival.co.uk/ledbury-poetry-critics-programme/

Editor-in-residency, Memoona Zahid: https://memoonazahid.co.uk/