We are delighted to announce the two artists who have been selected to be our first ever TWP poets-in-residence at MIMA, Audrey Cook and Sara Dennis.

They will be resident from July to October at MIMA — People Powered: Stories from the River Tees, a new exhibition in partnership with the National Portrait Gallery which will feature an amazing array of works.

First up is Art Trolley resident Audrey Cook, a queer, non-binary theatre maker and community arts practitioner, who works primarily with fantasy and folklore inspired storytelling and community driven stories. Their work is bizarre, anarchic, whimsical, and daft. They will be spending time at the Art Trolley throughout August, devising wordy ways for families to interact with the exhibition and writing her own poetry inspired by her interactions.

Middlesbrough-born musician & writer Sara Dennis describes herself as a “dark angel of the vox box, half crack’d poetess + ukulele lady”. With a particular interest in the perception of women throughout time and the myths and connotations of the witch, the crone and the hag, her songs and poetry explore reimagined narratives and forgotten histories of condemned women. She’ll be spending time in the exhibition gallery itself, applying her folk sensibilities to making a suite of new poems and involving the public in her creative process.

Both poets will represent the TWP with work to be published in the mighty MIMAzina online zine, and will perform live at MIMA’s October Art Social event.