We’re pleased to welcome Anthony Joseph back to Quay Words after his fantastic outdoor set in 2021. Anthony will be reading from his new poetry collection Sonnets for Albert. SHORTLISTED FOR THE FORWARD PRIZE FOR BEST COLLECTION 2022 With Sonnets for Albert, Anthony Joseph returns to the autobiographical material explored in his earlier collection Bird Head Son….

Online via Zoom Saturdays 29th October – 26th November, 11.30 am – 1.30 pm.  £100 full/ £50 concession Write your own brand of middle-grade fiction with children’s author Jane Elson. In this five-week course, Jane will lead you through creative games and exercises to feed your imagination. The course will explore how to build characters,…

A day of Masterclasses and conversation with memoirist Cathy Rentzenbrink and publisher Francesca Main Do you have a life writing project that needs attention? Perhaps you need some technical help, are nervous about committing life to the page, or curious about navigating the industry in general? Join bestselling writer Cathy Rentzenbrink and publisher Francesca Main for an intensive…

A collaboration between Quay Words and the Wellcome Centre for Cultures and Environments of Health In the first of our public events from The Health & Resilience Project, we welcome poets Fiona Benson and Kat Lyons to Exeter Custom House where they will treat us to readings from their recent works, followed by a Q&A…

Greta Stoddart will launch her new collection Fool, followed by a conversation with the Literature Works team. When knowledge is ours at the tap of a key, what is it we’re accumulating, and is it at the expense of another, more intuitive, kind of knowing? The word ‘fool’ derives from the Latin follis, one of…

Do you love heritage and history? Are you a budding historical fiction author? Maybe you fancy giving it a go. Maybe you’re well on the way to finishing your first novel. Whatever stage you’re at, this is the course for you. Taking place once a week over five evenings and covering everything from choosing your…

Experience a new site-specific performance by poet and musician Belinda Zhawi. In Transit will share stories and histories from the River Exe, probing themes of colonialism, migration, industry and the environment. Tracing the movement of tides, and the movement of people, animals and goods, this mesmerising spoken word performance by Zimbabwean-born, London-based Zhawi will blend…

Join our summer writer-in-residence in a guided outdoor exploration of Exeter Quay. Sophie invites you to come and create a deeply personal, sensory map of the quayside to add to this space’s wealth of cartographical history.Ditch the compass, the signposts, the landmarks and instead map that mint choc chip ice cream and the nostalgia it…

Join our summer writer-in-residence Sophie Dumont in a guided outdoor workshop.  Seek out words and phrases hidden along the Quayside, and use them to create your own poetry. More information to follow. ****** Sophie Dumont is a poet, copywriter and ex-canoe coach living in Bristol. She is an alumna of Exeter University and her poetry has…

Are you a budding crime fiction author? Maybe you fancy giving it a go. Maybe you’re well on the way to finishing your first novel. Whatever stage you’re at, this is the course for you. Taking place once a week over five evenings and covering narrative structure, characterisation, themes, dialogue, atmosphere this course will explore…