The ambition is for The Word to become a home for North East writers. Working in partnership with New Writing North we offer a range of writing courses and workshops to support writers as well as a writers in residence programme.

Current Writer in Residence

Rowan McCabe

Poet in Residence

Rowan is a poet, playwright and performer from Newcastle upon Tyne and is our Poet in Residence in the run up to WRITE Festival 2019.

During his residency Rowan will explore the idea of what South Tyneside really means to the local people by visiting local landmarks and areas, speaking with the public and recording his experience of being there.

He will also work with a local historian who can give him a better understanding of the history of the area and the changes that happened over the years.

He will complete his residency by creating seven poems based on his experiences and the stories he has heard throughout his journeys. The poems will use a selection of words from the Word Bank of Lost Dialects, donated by visitors to The Word. The poems will be filmed and available for visitors to see inside our Word Bank of Lost Dialects exhibition until 15 September.

Rowan will also be performing his Door to Door Poetry performance during WRITE Festival.