Poet.
A slam winning poet who has performed at events across the UK including Glastonbury Festival and at the Royal Albert Hall.
His one-man spoken word theatre show ‘Still Raving in your 40’s?’ debuted at The Newcastle Fringe Festival.
His poems have been published in various journals and anthologies including: ‘Best New British and Irish Poets’ 2020/21 (Eyewear Publishing), Morecambe Poetry Festival 2023, Terry Kelly Poetry Prize 2023, ‘New Word Order’ anthology- ‘The Writer’s Cafe’ magazine and ‘Riggwelter’ journal.
‘Donald Jenkins is the real deal. A performer that proves art is for everyone and poetry is the language of authenticity. I was blown away by his live performance – intricate wordplay, devastating rhymes and a political heartbeat – it was a masterclass in contemporary flow.’
Kevin P. Gilday
‘There’s a rave sensibility to Donald Jenkin’s poetry. On the pulse. Working with the rhythm that still courses through him. Never afraid to tackle tough subjects head on, while still spreading the love. From the gift of the gabba to the gift of the gab.’
David Viney
Still Raving in Your 40’s?
From old Skool to old bastard, Donald Jenkins has been addicted to the rave scene’s sweaty underbelly for over thirty years.
‘Still Raving in Your 40’s? mixes music, dramatic monologue and spoken word poetry to ask,
‘Should middle age stop you from being a raving reprobate?’ Come on a fascinating journey through the most epic musical movement of the British Underground.
This is the journey of illegal all-nighters, Class A drugs and never-ending after parties, a funny, lyrical and highly relatable enactment of the fascinating, grimy world of rave culture.
Jenkins explores how this thirty-year obsession has affected him physically, mentally, and financially.
Isn’t it time he grew up and packed it all in?
Jenkins was very happy to receive a residency with Stage Award winning Alphabetti Theatre to develop this show, which did an initial run as part of the Newcastle Fringe Festival in 2024 and was then performed in 2025 in the Victoria (Air Raid) Tunnel, in Newcastle’s Ouseburn Valley as part of the Sounds of the Underground Festival.
Poetry Commissions
Stories of the Stones
Tyne and Wear Buildings Preservation Trust and Historic England commissioned Jenkins to write a book of poems called ‘Stories of the Stones’ in collaboration with neighbourhood residents, honouring the lives of their ancestors buried in cemeteries in Elswick, Newcastle.
Watch one of the poems here:
Poetry in the Pool
In 2025, after a hard-fought campaign by the local community, Elswick Pool reopened – Jenkins was commissioned to write 6 poems to commemmorate the occasion.
You can watch one below:
Our Adelaide Terrace
Donald Jekins, community poet and proud Newcatle Westender, was the Newcatle City Council’s artist in residence for the ‘Our Adelaide Terrace’ project.
He was asked to capture the voices of local people, finding out what they like and want to see improve on Adelaide Terrace in Benwell, and what the area means to local residents and shopkeepers. Watch the complete video below, featuring all three poetry films made with the amazing FLY FILMS UK.
He co-created one of the poems with Search Adelaide House Older Men’s Group, narrated by local resident, Davey Hethering:
Horror Stories We Tell Ourselves
Donald was commissioned by Helix Arts to co-create a drugs awareness resource as part of North Tyneside Council’s #NEVER strategy to use participatory arts with a community research lens to gather young people’s insights into drugs and alcohol.
Working with Churchill Community College, he co-wrote a poem that came from a series of creative writing workshops he had with their year 11 students.
The poem was then performed by an actor as part of an immersive experience that enabled young people and professionals to explore issues around decision making and drug use.
Spoken & Born Lippy Poetry Exchange
Throughout lockdown, Donald Jenkins was one of ten poets from two cities (Newcastle and London) who collaborated with another poet to research, write and rehearse poems about social issues important to them. They worked with filmmaker Davey Poremda (Fly Films) who brought their message to live by creating five hard-hitting videos.
Here is Donald’s exchange with Tim ‘Passion’ Forde:
24 hours in isolation
During the Pandemic, Jenkins brought a much needed smile to peoples’ faces by filming daily videos of his wife and him dancing to Gabba music. They created a Facebook group to document this which amassed over 6.6k members, helping to make global connections with people experiencing Lockdown who also used the platform to share their own content.
He was commissioned by the ’24 Hours in Isolation’ project to write about the phenomenon which has featured as audio in a series of mini-podcasts about the epidemic of loneliness during quarantine.
More
Not Just an Epitaph
There is – a stone that connects me to a place I never lived,
stories with nostalgia from a childhood that wasn’t mine,
fairytales that were told, my eyes feel they didn’t dream,
heroes I have met who were gone before I learnt to breathe.
Who is He to Me?
I thought dad’s arm only cared for one thing –
downing Broon, sinking pints of Exhibition,
repetitive strains from lifting loopy juice
that weighed us down, again and again.
She Will Always Be a Traveller
The amplified chime of Greensleeves fills the estate,
pricking up the ears of every child within a half mile,
like excitable metal detectors who’ve located some treasure,
we scurry along back lanes to claim our prize.
