TWOOMPH! ft Rowan McCabe

Masterclass, headliner + open mic

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 a bit like the Avon lady… but with rhymes. (In 2023 he also became the first person to rhyme the words 'satsuma' and 'azuma'.)

Rowan has written for Channel 4, BBC Radio 3’s ‘The Verb’, and his work has been featured in the Guardian and on BBC Breakfast. He has toured across the UK and has appeared at Glastonbury Festival and the Royal Albert Hall. His first full-length book, The Door-to-Door Poet, was published by Eye Books in September 2025.

“Invaluable”- the Guardian

“Highly talented with verse” – Broadway Baby

“Absolutely riveting” – Attila the Stockbroker

OPEN MIC - sign up to read on the door.

Pay What You Can, suggested donation £3 but you can give more - or choose a Free ticket, no questions asked.

A free masterclass with Rowan will be available immediately prior to this event, running 5.30pm-7pm in either Chapel or the Sanctuary Space next door. This workshop is provided by Borderlands as part of The First Verse, a 5-month programme of events paving the way for the appointment of a Poet Laureate for South Teesside in 2026. Tickets for the workshop will be available soon via Borderlands' website.

The People's Poetry Masterclass with Rowan McCabe'Most people ignore most poetry, | because most poetry ignores most people'- Adrian Mitchell

Nobody wants to be ignored, do they? And nobody wants their poems to be ignored either. The question is, as poets, how do we go about not ignoring people? Does it mean we can't ever write for ourselves? Or is it possible to connect with others, while at the same time writing in a way that feels authentic and expressive?Join Rowan for a fun and relaxed workshop about writing collaboratively. Using a series of games and exercises, Rowan will introduce the idea of poetry as a form of dialogue, one which has the power to resonate with others and to affect change.