Things That Make Us Human is a raw, rhythmic journey through the bag of bones we inhabit and the grit of the cities that shape us. Inside life is found in a pint at Night and Day, the rotating pedals of a delivery cyclists bike, and the shared silence of a joint passed in the dark.
 
Aaron masterfully captures the friction between the mundane and the monumental, where a Greco-Roman prayer meets a cigarette in a hospital smoking area, and the crushing weight of a 9-to-5 office job is interrupted by the haunting, recurring specter of Eric.
 
Things That Make Us Human is Rory Aarons debut full collection of poems.
 
'The poems of Rory Aaron's new book take place between day and night, between Derby and Manchester, life stretching out across – and almost breaking free of – its prescribed three acts. There is dulling repetition – the scars of precarious labour, job interviews, loneliness – but also a hallucinogenic humour and endlessly renewing attention, whether focussed on a Greggs sausage bap or on a food bank where the volunteers count ‘tins of pineapple slices whilst singing the words of Paulo Nutini’. Aaron has a breadth of feeling – a generosity as to what makes us human – that could seed a revolution.’ - Will Harris
 
'This collection makes acne out of everyday moments. It will trick you into thinking that these memories are yours - familiar and raw.'  Keisha Thompson