The Charles Causley Trust have appointed their first Writer-in-Residence for 2018 as part of their Arts Council England, Cornwall Council and Literature Works funded Fuelling The Flame project.
David Devanny will spend three months living at Cyprus Well, home of the late poet, Charles Causley, immersing himself in the same town that Charles called home for most of his life. He will work with community groups and spend much needed writing time developing his own body of work.
David is an award winning multi-media artist and poet from Bradford who works as a lecturer at Falmouth University where he is also studying for a PhD in digital poetry and poetry publishing. David’s print work has been published in a wide variety of magazines and in his debut pamphlet ‘wasps on the way’ (Mews Press: 2012). His digital work was shortlisted for ‘The New Media Writing Prize’ and his multimedia poetry has been published in mobile apps, in webzines and exhibited at festivals and in a number of galleries. He is an editor of the New Fire Tree Press, a small non-profit poetry publishing house. David is currently working on a mobile poetry app series focusing on the Cornish coastline and Devon-Cornwall border region and he will be working on a Charles Causley poetry trail app during his time in Launceston, as well as his own digital and page based poetry.
David’s residency follows in the footsteps of writers and poets Alyson Hallet, Isobel Galleymore, Karen Hayes and most recently, Cahal Dallat who was resident in 2017. Fuelling the Flame runs for two years and in addition to the Writers-in-Residence, will also support a wide range of events and activities to promote Causley’s legacy and engage with the local and wider community.
David will also be putting on a surprise event for the Causley Festival at the end of May/beginning of June so keep an eye on social media for updates on this free event.
Helen Chaloner, CEO of Literature Works, said “Writers’ homes and places like Cyprus Well can be instrumental in passing inspiration down the decades, from writer to writer. It is wonderful to think that such an innovative contemporary writer as David Devanny will be living in Charles Causley’s former home, drawing from it inspiration and the time and space to write.”
Kate Campbell, Programme Director at The Charles Causley Trust, said “David is going to breathe new life into the work that we do to promote the work and legacy of Charles Causley. He blew us away at interview with his ideas involving technology and digital applications and we believe that he can help to bring Charle’s poetry to a whole new generation of future fans. He is such an innovative and interesting poet and we are so very glad that he is on board with this fantastic new project. We are very fortunate to be supported in this part of the project by Literature Works, without whom, this residency just wouldn’t be able to happen. They are true champions of Literature Development in the South West.”
Follow @causleytrust @causley_fest @LitWorks for updates on David’s residency.
For more information about Literature Works go to www.literatureworks.org.uk
Photo credit: Becky Screeton