STUFF IS HAPPENING!
After a long and tedious winter, I’m absolutely chuffed to say that me and the good people of The Cumberland Arms are putting on some outdoor poetry and music events next month.
The first gig will be at 7pm on the 8th of June and will feature Kate Fox (Radio 3, Glastonbury Festival Poet in Residence), Tahmina Ali, Donald Jenkins and Rowan McCabe (i.e me), with music from Rob Heron and Alix Alixandra. Our host will be Jessica Johnson.
The whole thing is being paid for with Cultural Recovery Funding, which means it’s ABSOLUTELY FREE TO ATTEND! Just email cumbybookings@gmail.com to book a ticket.
When you book you will be allocated a table. If you want to sit with some mates, you can sit together in a table of up to 6. Or, if you’d like to sit in a one or two person table that’s also fine. Just let us know when you email.
Oh and tickets are limited so don’t hang about yeah?
Here’s some more info about who’s on:
KATE FOX
Kate Fox is a stand up poet who is a regular on Radio 4 & Radio 3’s The Verb. She’s been Poet in Residence for the Great North Run, Glastonbury Festival and Tour de Yorkshire. You may have also caught her on Christmas University Challenge, when she captained Loughborough University’s team in December 2020.
She’s toured and performed shows about Northern English women, Doctor Who’s connection to autism, being in-between social classes and not wanting children. Her books include The Oscillations (Nine Arches, 2021) and Chronotopia (Burning Eye, 2017).
http://www.KateFox.co.uk
TAHMINA ALI
Tahmina Ali is a British Bangladeshi, Newcastle based spoken word poet. She has performed at various events, poetry nights across the country and selected for the prestigious BBC Words First programme. Also presented her poetry radio show on Fast FM for two years running, hosts her own Open Mic poetry night called Strictly Spoken and has been awarded the ‘ABC Arts and Culture Award’ for 2018 and 2019. Tahmina uses her poetry as a means to encourage positive change, her writing is generally influenced by identity, culture, social events and life as a young mother.
DONALD JENKINS
Donald Jenkins is a performance poet, writer and spoken word promoter from Newcastle upon Tyne. He won the Great Gateshead Slam 2018 and has performed at Glastonbury Festival and The Royal Albert Hall.
Donalds’s poems have been published in – ‘New Word Order’ anthology- ‘The Writer’s Cafe’ magazine and ‘Riggwelter’ journal and upcoming- ‘Best New British Poets 2020/21 Anthology’ from Eyewear Publishing. He produces and hosts ‘Born Lippy’- a celebration of things wordy, showcasing the finest spoken word poets, rappers and comedians.
ROWAN MCCABE
Rowan McCabe is a poet and performer. Aware that poetry isn’t a proper job, he decided to create his own and became the world’s first Door-to-Door Poet. Knocking on strangers’ doors, he asks what is important to them. He then goes away and writes a poem about this, free of charge, before bringing it back and performing it on their doorstep. It’s sort of like the Avon lady… but with rhymes.
Rowan has also written poems for Channel 4, Radio 3’s ‘The Verb’ and his work has been featured in the Guardian and on BBC Breakfast. He has performed on stages around the UK, including Glastonbury Festival and the Royal Albert Hall. In 2020, the National Trust invited him to be poet in residence at Wordsworth House.
ROB HERON
Newcastle based Rob Heron has spent the past decade touring and recording with the six-piece rag-time, honky-tonk, swing band Rob Heron & The Tea Pad Orchestra. With four albums of original material under his belt, and an international following, his solo show consists of Tea Pad classics, new material, and the odd country and blues standards.
Rob takes inspiration from artists of the golden age such as Cab Calloway, Merle Tarvis, George Jones and Hank Williams, and delivers his performances with wit, humour and panache. This is no dressing-up box, no lazy pastiche; Rob Heron lives and breathes this music.
ALIX ALIXANDRA
Newcastle Upon Tyne based singer-songwriter, playing mainly original compositions on guitar and ukulele. With poetic lyrics and stripped back instrumentals, she sings about love, life, politics, and cardboard boxes.
Her debut album ‘Hope is an Animal’ was released in April and a review in Tits Upon Tyne magazine read “Hope Is An Animal is a raucous and poetic display of love, self-reflection and hope. Definitely a recent highlight in the folk singer/songwriter sphere”
Rowan McCabe 