The Charles Causley Trust

A Causley Christmas
2022-12-09 19:00 - 21:30 (Europe/London) | St Thomas Church, Riverside, Launceston
Join us on Friday 9th of December at St Thomas’s Church in Launceston for an evening of Christmas cheer. Beginning at 7pm, the event will include Charles Causley’s poems put to music by folksinger Jim Causley, performances from local schools, as well as memories and tales of Charles Causley from friends, neighbours and former pupils.
Tickets are available online at causleytrust.org (see link below) and at Launceston Visitor Information Centre.

Winter Warmer Poetry Retreat
2023-02-03 18:00 - 2023-02-05 17:00
Join poets Katrina Naomi and Fiona Benson and develop your poetry at our second residential weekend at the beautiful Trevadlock Manor in the heart of the Cornish countryside near Launceston.

Join Katrina & Fiona for a nurturing writing weekend in beautiful east Cornwall, to warm you through the last dregs of winter and inspire you for the coming months of spring. Workshop sessions will focus on equipping you with tools to nourish, motivate and inspire your inner writer. You will engage in creative play, use both personal and more general research, adopt new poetic techniques to refresh your poetry, take meditative group walks and find ways to flip your creative switch to ‘on’. You will also think about author self-care – how to stay grounded in the face of social media and all the other aggravations of a writer’s world.
You will write poems of endurance, exploring winter rituals and the myths of returning spring; and poems of resilience, finding how to use our voice in the face of inequality and political transgression. You will also have the opportunity to discuss your work one on one with both Fiona and Katrina. Participating poets will be asked to bring a favourite poem of endurance/survival.
Residential packages start at £550 and day attendance packages are £300. For full details see our dedicated website page.
Email info@causleytrust.org for all enquiries.

A Workshop from Cyprus Well: poems inspired by Charles Causley (11/03)
2023-03-11 15:00 - 18:00
Join our 2023 Writer in Residence Rachel Piercey for a Digital Poetry Workshop, inspired by Charles Causley’s work. We will be running two sessions of this workshop – one on the 11th of March and one on the 15th. All poets are welcome, whatever stage of their writing journey. In the spirit of Charles Causley, who never set out to write with a particular age of audience in mind, the workshops are open to poets who write for adults and poets who write for children. Each workshop will be held on Zoom, with a mix of poetic activities and plenty of comfort breaks.
Saturday 11th March, 3-6pm
Tickets – £20

Charles Causley inspired poetry workshop
2023-03-14 19:00 - 21:00 | The Orchard Centre, Blind Hole, Market Street, Launceston, Cornwall, PL15 8AU, United Kingdom
Join our adult poetry writing workshop inspired by Charles Causley at The Orchard Centre, Tuesday 14 March, 7-9pm
Our 2023 poet-in-residence Rachel Piercey will be leading a fun and friendly poetry writing workshop inspired by Charles Causley. Adult poets of any experience are welcome. All you need to bring is a pen and something to write on.

A Workshop from Cyprus Well: poems inspired by Charles Causley (15/03)
2023-03-15 18:30 - 21:30
Join our 2023 Writer in Residence Rachel Piercey for a Digital Poetry Workshop, inspired by Charles Causley’s work. We will be running two sessions of this workshop – one on the 11th of March and one on the 15th. All poets are welcome, whatever stage of their writing journey. In the spirit of Charles Causley, who never set out to write with a particular age of audience in mind, the workshops are open to poets who write for adults and poets who write for children. Each workshop will be held on Zoom, with a mix of poetic activities and plenty of comfort breaks.
Wednesday 15th March, 6:30-9:30 pm
Tickets – £20

Poetry Open Mic Evening with Rachel Piercey, hosted by The Byre
2023-03-22 19:00 - 22:00
Join us on Wednesday 22nd March from 7pm onwards at The Byre in Launceston Town Centre for a poetry open mic evening with Poet and children’s writer, and our 2023 Writer in Residence, Rachel Piercey. Come along and read your own poetry, your favourite poems and play your own songs. Entry is free, but spaces are limited.
Wednesday 22nd March, 7pm onwards
Tickets: Free

Drama and Music Pirate inspired Workshop
2023-03-25 10:30 - 12:00 | Launceston Library, 1 Bounsalls Ln, Launceston, Cornwall, PL15 9AB, United Kingdom
Join us for music and drama and pirate themed arts and craft activities at Launceston Library! Open to all young people aged 4-11 years.
Entry is free and no ticket is required.

Drama workshops for confidence building
2023-03-28 16:00 - 18:00 | The Orchard Centre, Blind Hole, Market Street, Launceston, Cornwall, PL15 8AU, United Kingdom
Join the Causley team on Tuesday 28th March for a confidence building workshop. The event will take place at the Orchard Centre, Launceston and is open to all young people aged 4-11 years interested in building their confidence through drama and performance.
Entry is free and no ticket is required.

Nocturne: Digital Reading with American Poet Jodie Hollander
2023-05-24 19:00 - 20:00
Join us for a digital reading from American poet Jodie Hollander to mark the launch of her latest collection, Nocturne.
Set in a technicolour world of dreams, ghosts, classical music, and Key West storms, Jodie Hollander’s compelling second collection charts the emotional journey of the daughter of a professional classical pianist. These bold and arresting poems, rich with musicality, and fierce in their emotional honesty, chart the complicated repercussions of family dysfunction and musical obsession while traversing the landscape of the human condition and exploring the need for refuge in the natural world.
Click the link below to secure your ticket.

Creative Writing Evening with Penelope Shuttle and David Devanny
2023-06-07 19:00 - 21:00
This event will be divided into two short workshops, both an hour long.
Part 1 with Penelope Shuttle: Writing a Letter to the God of the Sea
In this workshop hour we will read and discuss three poems by Charles Causley and then write from prompts drawn from these compelling poems. I invite participants to extend their imaginative practice via the portal of Charles Causley’s profound and accessible writing. This will be an enjoyable and affirming workshop, focussing on the pleasure and excitement of expression through poetry.
Part 2 with David Devanny: Topographies of Poetry: From the Land to the Sea
Charles Causley’s poetry is both rooted and unrooting, navigating layers of meaning in both real, spatial and mythic geographies, in land and over the seas. This workshop hour uses Charles Causley’s words and different types of topographic maps to inspire new poetic mythologies.
Wednesday 7th June
7-9pm
Ticket: £20
This event is a fundraiser for the Causley Trust. We greatly appreciate any support you can give.

Poetry and Open Mic Evening with Vera Yuen
2023-06-28 18:00 - 20:00 | Launceston Library, 1 Bounsalls Ln, Launceston, Cornwall, PL15 9AB, United Kingdom
Join us at Launceston Library on Wednesday 28 June from 6-8 pm for a Poetry and open mic evening and meet the Charles Causley Trust’s 2022 International Poetry Competition winner, Vera Yuen, who will be reading some of her work. Entry is free and refreshments and snacks will be provided. There will be a mixture of poems and music – join us, play an instrument or sing.
You can read Vera’s winning poem here.

2023 Commemorative Festival Weekend
2023-06-30 10:00 - 2023-07-02 17:00
We are thrilled to announce the 2023 Causley Trust Commemorative Weekend, which will take place from the 30 June – 2nd July. Join us for an evening dedicated to Charles Causley and his legacy, creative pop up spaces with writers, artists and creatives, workshops and more …
*Please note, this programme is subject to funding and may condense or expand
We will be hosting a variety of free, community activity in Launceston town centre venues, in addition to ticketed workshops and walks. For more information, click here.

Sleeping Under Clouds: Digital Reading Fundraiser with Sue Wallace-Shaddad
2023-07-19 19:00 - 20:30
Join us on Wednesday 19th July at 7pm (UK time) for a digital reading from our digital writer-in-residence poet Sue Wallace-Shaddad to mark the publication of her new poetry and art book Sleeping Under Clouds (Clayhanger Press, 2023). Sleeping Under Clouds, a collaboration with artist Sula Rubens, comprises poems and images of displaced people, especially children, with themes of journeying, kinship, nurture and survival. Sue will also revisit her pamphlet about the people, language, customs and culture in Khartoum, Sudan, A City Waking Up (Dempsey and Windle, 2020).
Tickets are free with a request for donations to the Causley Trust, which you can make at checkout. We greatly appreciate any support you can give.

Becoming a Poet with Katrina Naomi
2023-09-20 19:00 - 20:00
Come and join us on Wednesday 20 September at 7pm (UK time) for a digital reading and talk from the award-winning poet Katrina Naomi. Katrina Naomi is fresh from performing at the Keats-Shelley Museum in Rome, after winning the Keats-Shelley Prize for Poetry. Katrina Naomi will read a selection from her wide range of collections, including Wild Persistence (Seren 2020), along with a couple of brand-new poems. Plus she will give a talk on how she makes a living as a poet. This will be a unique insight into the delights and the difficulties of earning money from poetry. And there will be plenty of time for your questions on poetry. Katrina will aim to get through as many of your questions as possible in the hour. So don’t be shy, if you’ve always wanted to know how poets make a living, this is your chance to ask.
Wednesday 20th September
7pm
Ticket: £10

The Charles Causley Creative Writing Fun Palace
2023-10-07 10:30 - 15:00 | PL15 8ER, Merchant House, 11a High Street, Launceston, Cornwall, PL15 8ER
An informal creative drop-in space for empowering writers at all stages in their writing journey! Be inspired by the work, and mementos, of Launceston-born poet Charles Causley, who is recognised as one of the finest 20th Century British poets. Bring along your work, share it with others and develop new pieces.
Suitable for writers of all ages

Ghostly Town Walk of Launceston
2023-10-27 18:00 - 19:00
Join Karin Beasant (from the Jamaica Inn paranormal team) for a walk exploring Launceston and its History. The event will feature the following locations: Launceston Town Square (where Karin will tell the story of Cuthbert Mayne), The White Hart, Chings Alley, South Gate Arch, Dockacre House, Lawrence House, Eagle House Hotel, the old Launceston prison by the entrance to Launceston Castle, and Launceston Town Hall. The event will be a fun and informative walk, though may not be suitable for young ears! Secure your ticket here.
Friday 27th September
6pm start from outside Merchant House in the Town Square
Tickets: £5 (minimum donation)
The Causley Trust need your support right now. The current climate for small arts organisations, amidst major funding cuts, means that the future of the Trust is at risk. By attending this event, and through making a donation, you will help preserve both Charles Causley’s legacy and support our future work.

Horror Writing Workshop with Polly Hall
2023-10-28 10:00 - 13:00
Polly Hall, the award-winning author of The Taxidermist’s Lover, invites you to exorcise your inner demons via pen & paper in this fun horror writing workshop. We will create monstrous characters, conjure up spooky settings, evoke atmosphere through descriptive writing, visit horror tropes such as the haunted house and the isolated moorland. Come prepared to splurge your deepest fears and grotesque thoughts onto the page…
No previous experience required. Bring a pen, notebook and your wicked imagination! This workshop will involve some subjects that may cause offence. It’s the horror genre, after all! If you are of a sensitive disposition this may not be the workshop for you. 18+ attendees only.
This event will take place at a Launceston town centre location (tbc)
About Polly:
Polly Hall is an author and poet. Her debut novel, The Taxidermist’s Lover, was featured in the New York Times, a Finalist in the Bram Stoker Awards and won Gold at the IPPY Awards. Her second psychological horror novel, Myrrh, is out in 2024 with Titan Books. She wrote a memoir, Blood and Blood, during lockdown which was shortlisted for the Mslexia Memoir Prize. Her writing has been published in, A Wild and Precious Life anthology, Bath Flash Fiction, Earth Pathways Calendars and commissioned as part of interdisciplinary arts projects such as Luke Jerram’s Bread Poetry and The Gleaning. She holds an MA in Creative Writing and a PGCE. She lives next to a cider factory in Somerset, England with her cat, Vishnu.

How to Write a Mystery Novel - Digital Workshop with Greg Mosse
2023-11-08 19:00 - 20:00
Join us from 7-8pm on Wednesday 8th November for a one-hour workshop on Writing a Mystery Novel, led by ‘writer, and encourager of writers’, Greg Mosse. Starting from a dramatic location at a dynamic moment in time, together we will spend 60 minutes plotting an (as yet) unwritten whodunnit.
Wednesday 8th November
7-8 pm
Ticket: £10
This event is a fundraiser for the Causley Trust. We greatly appreciate any support you can give.

Poetry Masterclass with Cahal Dallat
2023-11-22 19:00 - 21:00
A chance to be part of a one-off, limited-numbers online poetry masterclass with poet Cahal Dallat (long-standing reviewer on BBC Radio 4 arts programmes and in TLS, Guardian and literary journals) who runs the popular Between the Lines critical workshop series for Coffee-House Poetry .
Participants, once booked, will submit their poem a week before the online workshop: in the session Cahal will take each poem on-screen in turn giving his detailed critique and opening up group discussion of the poem itself and of his analysis and advice. A real opportunity not just to have your poem explored but to hone your critical approach to poetry in general and to polish your self-editing skills.
About Cahal:
Born in Ballycastle, County Antrim, poet, musician and critic Cahal Dallat lives in London where he is founder/organiser of the WB Yeats Bedford Park Project and a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4’s Saturday Review . Winner of both Strokestown International and Keats-Shelley poetry prizes, he has recently been Charles Causley Centenary Artist-in-Residence at Causley’s former Cornwall home, Research Fellow at Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas in Austin, and joint Writer-in-Residence (with Anne-Marie Fyfe) at Lenoir-Rhyne University, North Carolina. Latest collection, Beautiful Lofty Things (Salmon Poetry, Ennistymon, 2022). www.cahaldallat.com

Winter Gifts with Anthony Capildeo
2023-12-06 19:00 - 20:00
The seasons are turning, and together we’ll settle down into a winter Cornwall of the mind. What tales will we enjoy at the bright fireside? What gifts will accompany us home, through the cold and dark? The 6th of December marks the Feast of St Nicholas, patron saint of children and sailors, and origin of our ‘Santa Claus’. Charles Causley brought his generous gift of creativity to his whole life, from music in schoolrooms to adventure on the high seas. Causley’s fondness for this December season, when at the low point of the Old Year we journey towards the New, also expressed itself in his verse play, The GIft of a Lamb…much overdue a community revival. At the Causley Trust, we believe in the life-giving spirit that the arts can breathe into communities. Anthony Vahni Capildeo will read a selection of Causley’s poems, their own work, and other tales of unexpected gifts, small and tender creatures, and haunting winter. We’ll stop to share stories and reflect on what we’re hearing. We’ll leave nourished and warmed.
Join us on Zoom on Wednesday 6th of December at 7pm.
Ticket – £10

Reflections on a Residency (a year on) with writer and poet Rachel Piercey
2024-01-23 19:00 - 20:00
Join us on Tuesday 23rd January at 7pm on Zoom for our first digital fundraiser of 2024. 2023 poet in residence Rachel Piercey will be reading poems for adults interspersed with poems for children, and talking to The Causley Trust’s Director, Nicola Nuttall, about her time in Cyprus Well and Charles’s influence on her writing. She will share new poems for both audiences, a few from her HappenStance pamphlet, Disappointing Alice, and some work written during the residency. Please note, this is an event for adults.

Deadline: International Poetry Competition and Young Person's Poetry Competition
2024-04-01 00:00
Please submit your entries by midnight on 1 April.

Merchant House is open!
2024-04-09 10:00 - 2024-04-11 13:00, 2024-04-13 10:00 - 13:00, 2024-04-16 10:00 - 2024-04-18 13:00, 2024-04-20 10:00 - 13:00, 2024-04-23 10:00 - 2024-04-25 13:00, 2024-04-27 10:00 - 13:00, 2024-04-30 10:00 - 2024-05-02 13:00 | Causley Bookshop, 11A Merchant House, 11a High Street, Launceston, Cornwall, PL15 8ER, United Kingdom
Do stop by our pop-up shop – we’re open Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, 10-1pm.
We’re now selling second hand fiction and non-fiction books – as well as collectible Causley publications. We are welcoming book donations, so please do drop off any unwanted books to us in 11A Merchant House. Each book donation helps us raise funds for the Trust.
We are also looking for volunteers to staff the creative hub and book shop. If you are interested in joining a growing group of friendly and supportive volunteers, then do get in touch either via email at info@causleytrust.org or by dropping in to see us in 11A.
We’d love to see you. 👋

Kitchen Revolt's "Speak with the Tongues of Bandits and Angels" poetry evening
2024-04-11 19:00 - 21:00 | Gerry’s Club, Gerry’s Club, 52 Dean Street, Soho, London, W1D 5BJ⁠, United Kingdom
Kitchen Revolt Productions are proud to present SPEAK WITH THE TONGUES OF BANDITS AND ANGELS, the companies debut in person poetry night at Gerry’s Club on the 11th of April.
A diverse line up of artists will ignite the stage, inspired by the theme of ‘place’.
The event is in support of the remarkable work of the Charles Causley Trust, a charity dedicated to shaping places, amplifying community voices and fostering creative expression.
The evening has been set up ahead of Kitchen Revolt’s ‘Writer in Residence’ Tommy Sisson’s 2024 Residency with the Charles Causley Trust. During his time in Cornwall (where the trust is based), he will be writing a set of poems in response to Causley’s work, as well as leading a masterclass and live event in Launceston this summer.
🎟️Get your ticket!
