UK postage is free if you spend £20 or more
Eye Books is to publish the memoir of the world’s first ‘door-to-door poet’, in a direct tie-in with a BBC Radio 4 programme. Publication will be supported by a major TV and radio campaign.
Rowan McCabe, who grew up on a Tyneside council estate, developed his unique métier when he started knocking on strangers’ doors, asking what was important to them, then going away and writing a poem about it, free of charge. Once it was finished, he brought the poem back and performed it for them.
Taking this offering around England was an eye-opening experience which he first recounted in two touring stage shows,. He has now written a full memoir of his adventures, The Door-to-Door Poet. It was acquired for Eye Books by the publisher’s founder, Dan Hiscocks.
‘This is a brilliant idea which Rowan brings to life with warmth, honesty and humour,’ Hiscocks says. ‘He shines a light on a range of different communities as he explores what is important to people today, in a joyful and thoughtful account.
‘We would have published it even if it hadn’t been linked to a forthcoming Radio 4 show; but that tie-in made it all the more attractive for us, and we’ve been delighted to find the media so interested and supportive.’
The Door-to-Door Poet will be published in hardback and on ebook on 18 September, in advance of the Radio 4 broadcast on 14 October. In a wide-ranging print and broadcast media campaign to support the book’s launch, McCabe is booked to appear on BBC Breakfast and Radio 4’s Loose Ends, among a wide range of media and touring engagements.
World rights to the book were acquired directly from the author.
