The Writers' Block

16/10/2026

Whose stories are remembered, and whose are still waiting to be heard?

This Black History Month, we’re reflecting on the importance of preserving and celebrating the stories of Cornwall’s global majority community.

Through Imagine, The Writers’ Block and CocoBean Cornwall brought together the experiences of 12 individuals, capturing personal histories, journeys and reflections on identity and belonging. The project also invited young people from Troon, Treleigh and Pennoweth Primary Schools to imagine the stories held within treasured personal objects through poetry.

Together, these voices create a richer picture of Cornwall’s history, connecting generations and helping ensure these stories are heard, valued and preserved for the future.

Today we are hearing from Ronnie Sekatawa

Explore Imagine and listen to the interviews via the link in our bio.
https://thewritersblock.org.uk/our-work/projects/imagine/

15/10/2026

The Story Republic can’t wait to be at Trelissick this half term! You’ll find them popping up all over the gardens with songs, stories and poems!

👻 Gather round for stories of Cornish folklore this October half term as part of the Kalan Gwav celebrations at Trelissick.

🎃 Join Story Republic and Cornwall Heritage Trust's resident storyteller, James Parnham-Kenny, and his dragon friend Jasper for a programme of well-loved legends and lesser-known tales inspired by Cornwall's rich folklore.

🍄 Story Republic will be at Trelissick on 24, 26, 27, 29, 30 and 31 October between 10.30am-3.30pm.

🐉 Cornwall Heritage Trust’s resident storyteller James Parnham-Kenny will be joined by his puppet friend Jasper the Dragon on 25, 28 October and 1 November at 11am, 1pm and 3pm.

🎃 Find out more and plan your Halloween visit to Trelissick at www.nationaltrust.org.uk/trelissick

📷 National Trust Images / Annapurna Mellor

14/10/2026

Writers' Network Event | Thursday 26th November 18:00 - 20:00

Keeping our curiosity embers going

Struggling to find inspiration? Feeling a little stuck and lacking ideas? Or perhaps you just want a chance to meet other writers? Come join us for our next Writers’ Block Network event on cultivating our curiosity and finding your spark again.

In this uplifting and engaging session, we will explore how we can keep our curiosity kindled and find inspiration again through a series of creative prompts. You'll also get a chance to explore the Writers' Block and have time and space to network with others.

The first part of the session will include some writing exercises and then the second part will be time for discussion and meeting others.

Led by Lucy Beckley, a writer, poet and creative writing facilitator based in Cornwall. She is one of the Charles Causley Emerging Poets in Residence 2026 and is Creative Lead for Communities & Emerging Writers at The Writers' Block. Her work has been published in numerous books and anthologies and been recognised in a number of international competitions. She has a Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching Creative Writing from Cambridge University, an MA in Professional Writing from Falmouth University and an MA in European Cultures from Birkbeck University. She regularly runs workshops for adults, children and organisations and loves to help inspire others to find the joy and magic in writing.

Please book: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/thewritersblock/2434425

Image- Steve Tanner

13/10/2026

Lowender is this weekend! Check out what's happening at The Ladder, we're particuraly excited to be supporting the book launch and translation events.

Workshops / Hweljiow

10:30 – 12:00 – Accompaniment Workshop
with Tim Edey on guitar

10:30 – 12:00 – Whistle Workshop

with Michael McGoldrick on whistles

🌟13:00 – 14:00 – Book Launch with Taylor Strickland 🌟
Free event!

Join us for the launch of a book of poetry by C18th Scottish Gaelic poet, Alasdair mac Mhaighstir Alasdair (Gaelic tutor to Charles Edward Stuart, popularly known as ‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’), newly translated into English by Taylor Strickland.

Drinks & nibbles.

🌟14:30 – 16:30 – Celtic Languages in Translation 🌟

A unique opportunity to experience readings of literature written in each of the Celtic languages – Breton, Welsh, Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic, Manx and Cornish – in both their original languages and in English literary translations. Read by professional translators from each of the Celtic nations who will be visiting the festival this year.

17:00 – 19:00 – Cornwall – a Sense of Place

Join Tir ha Tavas (Dee & Dave Brotherton) and guest reader, Helen Musser on a journey in music, words and images around this beautiful world at the end of the land.

https://www.lowender.co.uk/festival/programme-2026/

12/10/2026

This Black History Month, we’re celebrating Imagine, a project by The Writers’ Block and CocoBean Cornwall that captured the stories of 12 individuals from Cornwall’s global majority community.

Through audio interviews, photography, personal treasures and poetry created by local primary school children, Imagine shines a light on the lives, histories and experiences that deserve to be heard, remembered and preserved.

By bringing generations together through storytelling, the project celebrates identity, culture and belonging, helping to ensure that the rich and diverse histories of Cornwall’s communities are part of our shared heritage.

Because every story matters, and every voice deserves to be heard.

First up we have Beverley Fitzgerald- Bevington of CocoBean herself!

For the full info pelase go to:https://thewritersblock.org.uk/our-work/projects/imagine/

12/10/2026

Join us for an inspiring evening of poetry, prose, comedy, readings and more, with special guest Liz Berry!

Online Speakeasy with special guest Liz Berry
Thu 22 Oct 2026, 6:30 PM–8:30 PM BST

We’re delighted to welcome award-winning poet and author Liz Berry to this special Online Speakeasy session.

Liz is the author of the critically acclaimed collections Black Country (Chatto, 2014), The Republic of Motherhood (Chatto, 2018) and The Home Child (Chatto, 2023), a novel in verse. Her work, described by The Guardian as “a sooty soaring hymn to her native West Midlands”, celebrates the landscape, history and dialect of the region.

Liz has received the Somerset Maugham Award, Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize, The Writers’ Prize and two Forward Prizes. Her poem ‘Homing’, a love poem for the language of the Black Country, is part of the GCSE English syllabus. She is a patron of Writing West Midlands and lives in Birmingham with her family.

Whether you’re a storyteller, poet or fiction writer, our Speakeasies are a chance to share your work, discover new voices and connect with other creatives in a welcoming and supportive space.

The second half of the evening is open to anyone who would like to read or perform their work. If you’d like to take part, please email Lucy Beckley at [email protected]

This is an ONLINE event. We also hold regular Speakeasies in person at The Writers’ Block and Trevow Helston.
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/thewritersblock/2335249 See less

08/10/2026

Curious to meet other writers? Feeling a little stuck with your writing? Lost your spark? ✨

Join us at The Writers’ Block on Thursday 26 November for our next Writers’ Network Event: ‘Keeping our curiosity embers going!’

We’ll explore how to nurture our curiosity, find inspiration and get those creative ideas flowing again through a series of playful writing prompts and exercises.

The first part of the evening will be all about writing and creative exploration, followed by time to chat, share ideas and meet other writers.

No matter where you are in your writing journey, you’re very welcome.

Thursday 26 November
6–8pm
The Writers’ Block, TR15 2QE

Come along, get curious and see what sparks.

Book your place: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/thewritersblock/2442867

07/10/2026

The Story Republic looking lovely at Awenek! The Great Cornish Heritage Festival

Cornwall Heritage Trust / Mike Davey Photography

06/10/2026

We love these pictures from Minack Play in a Day, where writers from our Stage Writing for Commission Writers Room where commissioned to write the plays. Now, it the young people's turn!

YOUNG DIRECTORS AND PLAYWRIGHTS!

The Writers’ Block and The Minack Theatre are delighted to announce a new seven-week programme for young people aged 13–18, offering an introduction to writing and directing for the stage.

The course will bring together young writers, directors and performers to explore the creative process behind live theatre. Through practical sessions, participants will have the opportunity to develop ideas, create characters and stories, experiment with directing and devising, and discover how collaboration can transform an idea into performance.

Led by experienced theatre practitioners, the programme is designed to give young people the confidence and space to experiment, take creative risks and develop their own ideas in a supportive environment.

The course will culminate in an informal sharing at The Minack Theatre, giving participants the opportunity to present original work developed during the programme to friends and family.

The course runs on Sundays from 8 November 2026 to 24 January 2027, with sessions taking place at The Writers’ Block in Redruth before the final sharing at The Minack.

£40 for the full seven-week course.

For more information and bookings, visit the link in our bio.
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/thewritersblock/2313846

05/10/2026

New Beginnings with the Young Writers - Blog Post by Casey Bottono:

As September drew to a close, we welcomed a fresh cohort of young writers into the Writers’ Block.

The activities within the session demonstrated a variety of ways to develop stories and poems. We began by asking the group to create name tags, each then passed around the room and embellished with small doodle drawings. After making our name cards, we split into pairs and each asked questions about favourite things to introduce ourselves. We followed this with one of my favourite writing games. One person writes an opening line on a piece of paper, reads it to the group and folds it over. The opening we used during the September workshop was:

The sound from above drew all eyes towards the sky.

I love that exercise, because the resulting story often gets the group laughing as well as connecting with one another. In the following exercise, we examined how pictures help to tell stories with a series of books for young children, including Maurice Sendak’s Where The Wild Things Are. Jon Klassen’s I Want My Hat Back also uses pictures to great effect in conveying the unsaid within the story. The bear is having a rough day, but it gets much worse for the rabbit. We then passed around a selection of poems including works by Simon Armitage, W.H. Auden and contemporary poets such as Chen Chen to inspire new work in the form of blackout poetry. It’s a simple idea. You take a copy of a poem, then pick up a pen and cross out the words that you don’t intend to use. The results were profound, and it seemed that the young people enjoyed the opportunity to ‘collaborate’ with established poets.

For the final exercise of the workshop, the writers worked as a group, arranging a series of images to tell a story.

Our next Young Writers workshop will take place at The Writers’ Block on Saturday 10th October between 10:00am and 1:00pm. We will be exploring the theme of Autumn and retelling fairy tales.

Read the blog post, and book onto Young Writers on our webstie.