Goth poet and performer Suz Winspear has been named Worcestershire’s new poet laureate. She was awarded the title at the launch of this year’s Worcestershire’s LitFest and Fringe on Friday night at Worcester Racecourse.

Suz, who takes over from previous laureate Heather Wastie, writes and performs poetry and gothic tales. She lives in a disused church, and her day job is in a Victorian museum. Her first poetry collection, I do not need a New Obsession, was published in 2013.

She said: “Worcestershire has always celebrated its wonderful heritage, and people tend to overlook the fact that we have a lively vibrant living creative culture - poets, writers, musicians, artists, photographers, film-makers, all living and working in Worcestershire now - so I want to use my year to showcase and celebrate that. I have ideas for collaborative events and works with poets and artists in different media and forms  … It's Worcestershire's living culture now that ensures we'll have a heritage for the next generation.”

She added: “As for being Goth - it's what I am, and gives me visual impact in performance, and to have a Goth poet laureate does show to the world that poetry isn't just for middle-class, comfortably-off, mainstream folks!”

PHOTOGRAPH: ADRIAN BUTT