Was one of Charles Causley’s poems inspired by a nineteenth century infanticide? Laurence Green, Charles Causley’s biographer, will talk about one of his lesser-known poems, Infant Song, written fifty years ago. He will reveal Causley’s mischievous sense of humour and his keen observation of the cultural events of the time, as well as matters closer to home. It will be great fun and slightly over the top.

Green’s biography of George Butterworth, outstanding composer and soldier, The War Gave Me Something to Do, will be published by Fighting High in 2018.

Armand Goulipian will look at some aspects of time in poetry, with particular reference to the last two visitors in Causley’s Ten Types of Hospital Visitor. Very little is said about these two visitors, but in fact they stand for two essential landmarks in everyone’s existence: life and death.

Armand is one of Causley’s greatest international fans, and has impressed previous audiences with his insights and recitations.

Tickets are £5 and the event will take place at Cyprus Well on June 2nd. Tickets can be bought here: http://www.crbo.co.uk/eventDetail.php?evGrp=135&evId=14510

Our two former writers in residence will read from their own work and also perform their ‘Cut-Up Causley’ Project, applying contemporary writing techniques to interpret Causley’s oeuvre.

Mac Dunlop was mentor-in-residence in early 2017 for The Charles Causley Trust, collaborating with young writer-in-residence, Andrew Fentham, to create new work and an events series in Cornwall to further Causley’s legacy. He is a professional member of NAWE (National Association of Writers in Education), as well as founder of The Poetry Point – a website for poetry and spoken events in the South West and Cornwall. He also works as a radio producer, creating scripts collaboratively in the community and with Hall for Cornwall. His radio shows air on Cornwall’s The Source FM and London’s Resonance FM. He publishes as Pluto Press Award-winning cartoonist MacD.

Andrew Fentham was the young writer-in-residence at Cyprus Well from January until April 2017, supported by Falmouth-based mentor, Mac Dunlop. He is working on a project for publication to mark his time in Causley’s house and in response to the surrounding area. His poems and translations have appeared in magazines including ‘Poetry Review’, ‘The Manchester Review’ and ‘The Black Herald Project’, a creative response to the work of Victor Pasmore, which appeared as an installation at the Hatton Gallery in Newcastle upon Tyne in 2015. A debut pamphlet of poems will appear this year, along with a collection of translations from the Hungarian András Gerevich in 2018.

This event takes place at Launceston Town Hall on June 3rd, tickets cost £5 and can be bought here: http://www.crbo.co.uk/eventDetail.php?evGrp=135&evId=14513

Our current poet/musician in residence, Cahal Dallat, talks about and illustrates his latest project to create new settings of Charles Causley’s poems. Influenced by a range of sources – from street ballads, Gaelic laments and baroque compositions (Causley’s Cornish/West-Country and wider British and Celtic heritage) to jazz, blues, 60s folk songs, and the 30s and 40s dance-band numbers he once played locally – these sounds and styles place Causley at the heart of modern life, of contemporary concerns. Cahal will illustrate his talk with music (on piano, mandolin, accordion, flute) and will be joined by his wife, poet Anne-Marie Fyfe, reading excerpts from Causley’s poems, prose, life and letters.

C.L. Dallat, poet, musician and critic, lives in London, where he reviews literature and the arts for the ‘Times Literary Supplement’ and ‘The Guardian’, among others, and has been a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4’s weekly ‘Saturday Review’ since 1998. He has won the Strokestown International Poetry Competition and his latest collection is ‘The Year of Not Dancing’ (Blackstaff Press, 2009).

Anne-Marie Fyfe’s fifth poetry collection, ‘House of Small Absences’ (Seren Books) has just been published. Anne-Marie lives in London, where she works as an arts organiser. She has won the Academi Cardiff International Poetry Prize and is Poetry Co-ordinator for the annual John Hewitt International Summer School in Armagh City. She is a former chair of the UK’s Poetry Society.

This event takes place at Launceston Town Hall on June 3rd, tickets cost £5 and can be bought here: http://www.crbo.co.uk/eventDetail.php?evGrp=135&evId=14515

Anna Maria Murphy – story-writer, story-teller, poet and playwright – has been a stalwart of Kneehigh Theatre for many years. Her ‘Friday Night in Launceston’ remains a gem of humorous observation, and her plays have been performed on Radio 4.

Rick Williams offers a superb complement to Anna’s readings with subtle guitar compositions, and in particular, his own arrangements of some of Charles Causley’s poems.

Within the setting of Charles’ restored home, Cyprus Well, this will be a very special, intimate occasion for a small audience.

This event takes place on June 4th, tickets cost £5 and can be bought here: http://www.crbo.co.uk/eventDetail.php?evGrp=135&evId=14521

Poet, playwright, essayist, critic – these were just some of the talents of Charles Causley, one of the finest poets of the second half of the twentieth century.

Barry Newport, Causley’s bibliographer, returns to the Festival with a wide-ranging talk, charting Causley’s rise to prominence through the publication history of his principal titles. It will also include some of his lesser-known works, his support of other West Country writers, his literary work for the BBC – and, of course, an anecdote or two along the way!

Barry Newport is a retired GP who has had a passion for books and literature for all his adult life. He has contributed to numerous journals, including the ‘British Medical Journal’ (in the field of medical humanities), ‘English’, and ‘The Thomas Hardy Society Journal’. He has spoken twice at the Thomas Hardy Conference, as well as at the Causley Festival in 2015. He published an article and a select bibliography in Causley at Seventy (1987), and edited A Hand and Flower Anthology, (a celebration of the Hand and Flower Press), in 1980.

This event takes place on June 4th at Cyprus Well, tickets cost £5 and can be bought here: http://www.crbo.co.uk/eventDetail.php?evGrp=135&evId=14520

Jim Causley has done as much as anyone to promote the name of his distant cousin, Charles Causley. His collection of Charles’s poems set to Jim’s own arrangements on the CD ‘Cyprus Well’ was described by ‘The Guardian’ as “A thoughtful, gently effective tribute.” Anyone who attended the launch of this CD at the 2014 Charles Causley Festival will have fond memories of that evening.

Jim, recently nominated for a Radio 2 Folk Award, returns with his own new settings of some children’s poems by Charles. It’s fitting that the launch of this new CD, sponsored by The Charles Causley Trust, provides the closing event of this centenary Causley Festival weekend. He will also be introduced by CEO of The Trust, Jennifer McDerra.

This event takes place on June 4th at Launceston Town Hall, tickets cost £8 and can be bought here: http://www.crbo.co.uk/eventDetail.php?evGrp=135&evId=14524