In this episode Helen discusses storytelling and menopause with storyteller poet and performer Kat Lyons. They explore the craft of storytelling and putting on a show 'Dry Season' exploring perimenopause. 

Kat is a Bristol-based poet, storyteller, writer and performer. They won both the 2019 Milk Poetry Superslam and the 2019 Lyra: Bristol Poetry Festival Slam, supported Joelle Taylor at Lyra: Bristol Poetry Festival 2020, and have performed at poetry events and festivals across the UK, including WOMAD, Shambala and the Eden Project. Kat’s poetry has been published in Under the Radar, Ink Sweat & Tears and Bath Magg, with a full collection forthcoming in 2022 from Verve Poetry Press. They are currently working on Dry Season – a spoken word theatre show/project exploring age, identity and menopause. A UK tour of the show is in production, though currently suspended due to Covid-19 restrictions.

As well as co-hosting Raise the Bar, Kat is the creator, producer and host of SpitFire, an online spoken word event curated to highlight the voices and talent of older women.

Kat was artist in residence with Artspace Lifespace (2019), and the Shoebox Theatre (2020). In March 2020 they were commissioned by The Cemetary Club to research and create a performance based on Bristol’s hidden queer history. In July 2020 they were one of 5 artists chosen for  The Arts Institute Covid-19 commission .

Kat has told stories for adults and children, worked with an ecologist to create site-specific explorations of myth and science, created mushroom-themed cabaret and explored fungal folklore, and presented at the University of South Wales’ annual Storytelling Symposium on Storytelling and the Environment. They occasionally dress up as a space explorer and ride around harassing the public from the back of an electric stegosaurus. They still can’t believe they actually get paid to do that.

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Interview and editing Helen Sheppard | Write Out Loud