Lisette Auton, photograph Laura Tindall
Kate Fox
Rowan McCabe
As part of the Your Library Story project to creatively celebrate the reopening of Darlington Library in September 2023 post restoration, Darlo based writer Lisette Auton has coordinated monthly ‘Do Stuff With Words’ sessions for adults at Darlington Library, encouraging people who signed up or dropped in to create new work and explore their writing practice. Supported by Arts Council England through Project Funding, this writing programme will reach its finale with an evening Do Stuff With Words event at Darlington Library, on the evening of Wednesday 23rd October 2024, details below, for which tickets are on sale now priced £4. Click here to book yours now or find out more about this event. At an earlier March 2024 evening sharing this year, a number project participants, joined Lisette at Darlington Library to share readings of their work to date, no mean feat given there wasn’t a free seat in the Art Gallery. With months more writing in place for participants to share, alongside the brilliant Lisette Auton, Kate Fox and Rowan McCabe, we’re looking forward to a great evening and hope you’ll join us there!
Do Stuff With Words sharing event, March 2024
Darlo Does Stuff With Words with special guests Kate Fox and Rowan McCabe, hosted by Lisette Auton
Wednesday 23rd October 2024
Doors open 6.30pm
Event starts 7.00pm (running time 2 hours with an interval)
Children’s Library at Darlington Library
£4 per ticket – ticket price includes complimentary drink
Welcome to a celebration of writing with headline sets from the sensational and nationally renowned poets and performers Kate Fox and Rowan McCabe, featuring the work of talented local writers, and all glued together and hosted by Darlington author and performer, Lisette Auton.
Since the beginning of this year, Lisette Auton has been playing with words with a group of writers at Darlington’s Crown Street Library and as their time together draws to a close we invite you to come along and celebrate their writing.
Kate Fox and Rowan McCabe headline this event: Lisette wanted to bring a group of writers together to create community and support each other in their writing, so it’s perfect that two of her absolute favourite writers and performers, who were instrumental to her writing journey, are joining us this evening. Each artist will perform a set from across their widely encompassing catalogue of work – if you’ve seen these artists perform before, you know how much of a treat you’re in for, if you haven’t, prepare to be delighted. Kate and Rowan will have books to sell and sign for you during the interval and after the event.
With writing cutting across all genres and forms, expect the unexpected, high drama, belly laughs and pride at the talent our town holds. Held in our beautiful library, this is a chance to not only listen to writers of national acclaim, to remarkable new writing, but also to meet fellow creatives and word lovers, readers, and listeners.
Kate Fox:
Kate Fox is a stand-up poet, spoken word artist and broadcaster.
Kate is a regular contributor to Radio 3’s spoken word cabaret “The Verb”, has made two comedy series for Radio 4, been Poet in Residence for the Glastonbury Festival and the Great North Run and completed a PhD in stand up comedy!
She is the author of “Where There’s Muck There’s Bras: True Stories of the North of England’s Women” published by Harper North, and various poetry collections. She is also a neurodivergent advocate whose latest show “Bigger on the Inside” explores neurodiversity through the lens of Doctor Who.
Rowan McCabe:
Rowan McCabe is a poet and a professional waffler from Newcastle upon Tyne. 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 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 2022, the National Trust published a collection of his work in honour of William Wordsworth’s 250th birthday.
“Ingenious” – BBC Radio Scotland
“Highly talented with verse” – Broadway Baby
“Absolutely riveting” – Attila the Stockbroker
Lisette Auton:
Lisette Auton is passionate about telling the stories she struggled to find – those that reflect her northern, disabled and neurodivergent experience – and making sure that everyone can see themselves in, or are authors of, the stories that are being told. She’s an award-winning multidisciplinary artist based in Darlington, who does stuff with words as an author, playwright, creative practitioner, film and theatre maker, and performer.
She is the author of three children’s books published by Puffin: THE SECRET OF HAVEN POINT; THE STICKLEBACK CATCHERS; LIGHTS UP; and a fourth publishing in 2025, and has multiple commissions writing plays for children and adults. Her film commissioned by New Writing North/Durham Book Festival WRITING THE MISSING – A RIVER CYCLE, the first part of THE WATER TRILOGY, won the Journal Culture Award 2021 for Performance of the Year. She is currently a TVCA Artist of the Year 2024-2025.
Basically, making things with words is the only thing she’s remotely good at, and she’s therefore very relieved that it’s her job.
