BOSTIN BAB is a Black Country-rooted creative practice built around storytelling through poetry, photography, writing and art. Inspired by the people and places of Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton, the work focuses on the real Black Country – its canals, factories, pubs, estates, high streets and everyday places -finding stories, humour and meaning in ordinary working-class life.

A lot of the poems and stories I write start with a photograph. Some stories are real, some imagined, but all are shaped by the spirit of the Black Country and the people who live here. At its heart, BOSTIN BAB is about telling honest stories rooted in place and the aim is to make work that feels real, grounded and familiar, something people from the Black Country can recognise themselves in.

I’m Kate – an ordinary Black Country wench who thinks my beloved Black Country is extraordinary. I’m an aspiring Black Country photographer and writer, and someone who spends far too much time wandering round canals, old pubs, industrial estates and places most people drive straight past. I’m passionate about telling stories about the Black Country and the people in it. Half the time I don’t really know what I’m doing creatively, but that’s part of the fun.

During 2026 I’ve taken on The Black Country Canal Challenge where my best friend Hamish the springer and I aim to walk all the walkable canal towpaths in the Black Country boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton to raise money for the MS Society, Alzheimer’s Society and Brighter Lives charities. This blog will be preoccupied with that for a while. Hope you enjoy the canal stories and if you can sponsor us, ta bab!