WriteOutLoud is delighted to welcome Thea Ayres to the editorial team!  Thea has already got stuck right into the task of representing Write Out Loud across our social media presence, currently on Twitter and Facebook.  We grabbed a quick chat by our metaphorical water cooler, just so I could take a few notes and share with everyone just what Thea was bringing to the team;

"I have just graduated from the University of Oxford with a History degree. I first became involved with Write Out Loud as a teenager, attending the monthly poetry circle at Marsden Library. The people I met there gave me the encouragement I needed when I first started writing."

Well, it seems those modest beginnings soon began to bear fruit, as Thea told me: "I was twice commended in the Foyle Young Poets competition and am a member of the Writing Squad, a community of young writers in the North. I attend poetry events in and around Huddersfield and write about nature and history."

Thea also has some interesting reading recommendations for us: "Currently, I am most inspired by Hilda 'H.D.' Doolittle's (pictured) emotionally powerful use of natural imagery in Sea Garden and Stephanie Burt's experimental approach to autobiography in Advice from the Lights."

Thea is  "excited to begin running Write Out Loud's Facebook and Twitter pages, publicising poetry, events and articles", so on behalf of the entire WriteOutLoud community we say a huge welcome!