We’re inviting all poets to share with us your work inspired by the theme “Festival”! Whether you have a poem about seasonal celebrations, the joys of seeing the first buds of spring, or memories of any other occasion that invites celebration, we would love to read your poetry!

In his poetry, Charles loved to explore traditions of Cornish life, and in poems like “Welcome, pale Primrose!”, he celebrated the changing of the seasons and the renewal that goes along with it. Underlying his poems both about more traditional holidays and personal celebrations, is the sense of community that was so important to Charles in his hometown of Launceston, and that we at the Trust foster and seek to spread to poetry lovers from all across the globe.

In his poem “On All Souls’ Day” Charles wrote,

‘My heart was easy as this bloom
Of waters rising by the bay.
I did not watch where you might come,
For you had never been away.
For you have never been away.’

With our “Festival” theme we wish to commemorate our connection to each other and celebrate our coming together in the same way that Charles did.

Preparations for the Launceston Poetry Festival on 1-3 May are in full swing, and as always, we are committed to Charles’s legacy and wish to support artists from all walks of life to share their art and have their voices be heard!
We would love for you to be a part of this year’s Festival. If your work is chosen for publication on our literary blog, The Maker, you will get a chance to read aloud your poem at our poetry community events on the evening of Friday 1 May or Saturday morning.

Please send your submissions to themaker@causleytrust.org.
The deadline for submissions is 8 March.
The chosen poems will be published gradually here on ‘The Maker’ starting 17 April.

We look forward to reading your poems!