We are thrilled to welcome back Pascale Petit to the Exeter Custom House, for a reading from her latest poetry collection Beast. About Beast Mythic and familial beasts roam the swamps and moors of Pascale Petits Beast. These spirits of the wild haunt the Camargue of Provence, the limestone Causses and gorges of the Languedoc, Indian tiger forests, the Amazon rainforest, and her home by Bodmin Moor in Cornwall. Some of these remote places are vestiges of earths pristine habitats, while other wildernesses are encaged in cellars of Paris, along with the worlds last species. Their essence is evoked in lithe and luxurious lines sometimes compressed as a trapped animal. An estranged father reappears as a hunter, while Maman is an orb spider or a grand piano; both are predators. And there are earthly beasts wild horses and bulls, lammergeiers, bee-eaters and catfish, remnants of a vanishing natural world. Beast asks if survival is possible in an abusive family and on an abused home planet, with trials such as climate change, childhood trauma and war. These poems face difficult challenges and insist that making art is an act of love and hope, and there are joyful lyrics celebrating the ineffable beauty of endangered species. About Pascale Petit Pascale Petitwas born in Paris, grew up in France and Wales and lives in Cornwall. She is of French, Welsh, and Indian heritage. Her ninth collection,Beast, is published by Bloodaxe in 2025, it won an Arthur Welton Award from the Society of Authors while in progress. Her eighth collection,Tiger Girl(2020), won an RSL Literature Matters Award and a poem from the book won the 2020 Keats-Shelley Poetry Prize.Tiger Girlwas shortlisted for the 2020 Forward Prize for Best Collection and for Wales Book of the Year 2021. Her seventh collectionMama Amazonica(Bloodaxe, 2017), a Poetry Book Society Choice, won the RSL Ondaatje Prize 2018, the inaugural Laurel Prize 2020, and was shortlisted for the Roehampton Poetry Prize 2018. Her novel My Hummingbird Father was published by Salt in 2024.

PLEASE NOTE: This is a hybrid course consisting of two parts - 3 online sessions and one in-person weekend at Exeter Custom House. Depending on availability, you may book onto the online sessions, the in person weekend, or both. Online Sessions on alternate Thursdays 6pm-8pm 5th June/19th June/3rd July In person weekend at Exeter Custom House, Saturday 12th 10am-4pm/Sunday 13th July 10am-12pm This Summer, Quay Words is delighted to be joined by award-winning writer Susanna Crossman for this hybrid short writing course on the theme of 'Life Stories'. In this course we'll be looking at how to craft life into story. Online, we'll explore writing effective personal narratives, moving from situation to story, finding your voice, using memory enhancement, exploring the difference between auto-fiction, memoir and French 'autobiographical pact' (Ernaux, Edouard Louis), and dealing with ethics and truth. At the Custom House, we'll also work on plotting and structuring your work, hybrid memoir, developing non-fiction essays/book ideas, and how to write 'memoir plus' powerful pitches . About the Author Susanna Crossman is an essayist and award-winning fiction writer. Her memoir, Home is Where We Start, was published by Fig Tree, Penguin, in 2024. Her new novel, The Orange Notebooks, will be published by Bluemoose Books in 2025. She has recent work in Aeon, The Guardian, Vogue, Paris Review, and more. A published novelist in France, she regularly collaborates with artists and film-makers. Currently, when shes not writing, she works internationally as a lecturer and clinical arts-therapist. Susanna has run writing and creativity seminars on three continents (Sarah Lawrence College (NY, USA), Kangwon National University (South Korea), University of Botswana, Universit Rennes 2 (FR), EDF and more). Born in the UK, Susanna Crossman grew up in an international commune and has lived in France for over half her life We are offering two bursary placesfor this course, which are available by application only (to [email protected] ) and will be allocated on a first-come, first served basis. The bursary is awarded on the basis of financial need not writing ability. You can find out about how to apply for a bursary,here [https://quaywords.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/QW2022.01-Quay-Words-bursary-policy.pdf]. We can accommodate free tickets for carers or personal assistants if needed. Please email us on [email protected] after booking to let us know if you would like to book one of these tickets.

Tying together fact and fiction in maritime history. Based in Exeter’s historic Custom House and around its Heritage Harbour, Bowlines will explore major themes in maritime literature. These will include: Characters and Characterisation – Inputs both on real characters and creating imagined ones. Disaster – Wars, shipwrecks and the efforts to improve maritime safety. These will be approached via inputs both from respected maritime historians and well known writers of naval fiction. The event will have a variety of inputs, ranging from talks to lively panel discussions designed to explore emerging themes in maritime literature.

Exeter’s Quayside Shanty Festival will return on Saturday 13 September. Expect another fantastic day and evening of folk songs of the sea, performed by some colourful characters and suitable for all the family. We can’t wait to see you there for more seafarin’ shenanigans on and around Exeter’s Heritage Harbour.

The return of our hugely popular celebration of Exeter’s Heritage Harbour status. Expect steam boats, railways, traction engines, classic cars together with musicians and other performers. This free event will take place at the Custom House, under the Transit Shed, around the waterfront and on the Piazza.

Join artists Sue Palmer and Sheila Ghelani as they turn over the interconnections between climate and geology, fuel and feelings, the strata and layers of atmospheres through performance and action. Everything we make is from the earth and will go back to it. Running order: Arrive, looking and reading. Sue and Sheilas performance along a table. A conversation between the artists and two invited guests from other fields, ranging from scientists to local historians, from artists to activists. Our event will include a break with a drink. Sue and Sheila have previously collaborated on Common Salt, a show and tell about empire, nature and memory, and this new piece builds on their practice and performance work. Atmospheric Forces has been made through a series of week-long residencies in four locations: UAL Wimbledon College of Arts (School of Performance and CCW Research), Somerset Earth Sciences Centre, University of Readings Department of Film, Theatre & Television in partnership with South Street Arts and RADAR/LUArts in Loughborough. The project is supported by Arts Council England, UAL: Wimbledon College of Art, University of Readings Department of Film, Theatre & Television in partnership with South Street Arts & RADAR Loughborough.

When Amy Mason got hacked she lost her number and social media accounts. And then the hackers started sending her gifts... As heard on Radio One, Radio Five and Radio 4. Top 10 funniest Jokes of Edinburgh Fringe - Guardian “A wonderful example of belated, begrudging self-acceptance channelled into a flourishing personality and consistently very funny performance” ★★★★ The Scotsman “a delightfully deadpan exploration of her queer identity... a misfit among a new generation” ★★★★ The Skinny “Mason’s oddball charm & poignant message of resilience makes this show sing... an uncut diamond” ★★★★ Fringebiscuit

Sure I’m Not Infallible But At Least I’m Hung is comedian Burt Williamson’s third hour of stand-up comedy and promises to be his best yet. Mixing his trademark aplomb with a goofy punchlines and densely worded stand-up, this is a promising hour form a an original comedic voice make waves in the British stand-up comedy scene. “His beautifully crafted set is clever in unguessable ways, unexpectedly hilarious at every turn and a great joy wrapped up in a big laugh, sprinkled with adorable.” - ★★★★ The Scotsman “the funniest, most unlikely, rudest yet sweetest” ★★★★ Entertainment Now

Miss Lady Clementine is BACK (due to unpopular demand!) She's off to The Big City to find the best version of herself. But soft-revolution’s in the air. Will our fearless heroine keep her wits or lose her head entirely? Guardian's Top Ten Comedy of 2023 Absolutely barnstorming performance’ - ★★★★ (Telegraph) ‘Remarkable’ - ★★★★ (The Guardian) ‘Delirious, demented stuff’ - ★★★★ (Chortle) Telegraph’s Funniest Shows at the Fringe and one of the British Comedy Guide’s Top Reviewed Shows

To celebrate the upcoming paperback release of her critically acclaimed memoir, we are excited to welcome Susanna Crossman. About Home is Where We Start In the late seventies, six-year-old Susanna moved with her mother and siblings to a utopian commune in rural England. For over fifteen years, she lived inside a crumbling mansion with fifty adults and children, trying to remake the world. Decades later, with the benefit of hindsight, she returns to her own childhood with pressing questions. What happens to children when we try to abolish the family? What is it really like to be the product of a social experiment? And how can we criticise the damage caused by revolutions while retaining a belief in the power of change? Part personal memoir, part critical analysis, Crossman turns to leading thinkers in philosophy, sociology and ethics to examine the many meanings of family and home. About Susanna Crossma: Susanna Crossman is an essayist and award-winning fiction writer. Her memoir, Home is Where We Start, was published by Fig Tree, Penguin, in 2024. Her new novel, The Orange Notebooks, will be published by Bluemoose Books in 2025. She has recent work in Aeon, The Guardian, Vogue, Paris Review, and more. A published novelist in France, she regularly collaborates with artists and film-makers. Currently, when she's not writing, she works internationally as a lecturer and clinical arts-therapist. Susanna has run writing and creativity seminars on three continents (Sarah Lawrence College (NY, USA), Kangwon National University (South Korea), University of Botswana, Universit Rennes 2 (FR), EDF and more). Born in the UK, Susanna Crossman grew up in an international commune and has lived in France for over half her life.

Andrew's recent success has led to him being described as the "Greatest Card Magician in the world. It's a lot of pressure to live up to. Come and find out if it is true.

Join us at Exeter Custom House for a screening of the artist documentary TerraForma. Directed and produced by Kevin Brennan & Laurence Durkin. Academia Film Olomuc 2024 Nominee Best World Science Documentary & Docville National Lottery Prize Nominee Best Scientific Documentary. TerraForma is the story of the remote volcanic island of Ascension, which sat smouldering for a million years largely devoid of life, until its radical transformation by process of 'terraforming' into a tropical paradise. But there is more to this island than meets the eye. The Victorian naturalists who transformed this island reshaped the ecology to fit the political and economic demands of their society - but only at the expense of what existed before it. The new environment, seemingly a paradise, was in fact a mirage. A mirror image of their ambition, their empire, and their understanding of the world. And as such it was doomed to fail. Many believe that future plans to geo-engineer our planet, or terraform others, would simply follow the same pattern. With the help of experts in the fields of geo-engineering, ecology, politics, and design, TerraForma explores the lessons we could learn from Ascension Island. And what its story may mean for our planet, in a future where terraformed landscapes and human-engineered environments may come to warp our understanding of 'nature' itself. Director biogs: Kevin Brennan and Laurence Durkin are close friends and a longtime filmmaking duo. Kevin is an artist and filmmaker from Galway, Ireland. Laurence is a documentary filmmaker from London. Their work together explores themes of identity, landscape, and human relationships with the natural world. They completed their first feature together in 2023 - TerraForma - which looks at the devastating but revolutionary 19th century geo-engineering project that radically altered the climate and ecology of Ascension Island. The runtime of the film is 61 mins 36 secs. The screening will be followed by a conversation on the themes raise. There will be a paid bar at this event.

Red-haired rising star of the Bristol comedy scene Tom Hutchinson brings a showcase of some of Exeter and the South West’s best, brightest and weirdest. Featuring local favourites such as Eliza Frazer, special guests and a headline spot from Tom Hutchinson himself, this is a celebration of the diversity, talent and joy of the South West comedy scene.

We are thrilled to welcome award-winning author Philip Marsden to Quay Words this June for an evening discussing his latest book, Under a Metal Sky. About Under a Metal Sky The discovery of minerals beneath our feet has transformed our species. Ochre first prompted humans to express themselves in art; tin and copper helped instigate the Bronze Age and later the Industrial Revolution; silver kick-started the engines of global trade. Each of these substances generated a leap forward in technology, each one opened the imagination a little further and each one brought with it a cache of unexpected dangers. Under A Metal Sky begins and ends in Philip Marsdens homeland of Cornwall, one of the worlds great geological hotspots. Travelling eastwards into Europe, he examines how the extraction of peat propelled the Netherlands to world prominence but also imperilled its very existence. Continuing on up the Rhine by barge, into the heart of the continent, he uncovers more stories of potent and tempting resources, from iron-rich meteorites to radium and mercury, and the gold-bearing mountains of Georgia. At the same time he explores precious seams of ideas, from science to alchemy, mysticism to ecology and those questing souls who pursued them, like Paracelsus, the Habsburg Emperor Rudolf II, Goethe, William Blake and Marie Curie. Rich with revelations, Under A Metal Sky traces the dazzling achievements and dark consequences of our ability to extract what we want from the earth, and presents a fascinating new perspective on European history and on our troubled relationship with the natural world. About Philip Marsden Philip Marsden is the award-winning author of a number of works of non-fiction, history and fiction. Recent books include The Levelling Sea - about Falmouth and the influence of the sea on individuals and national history, Rising Ground which examines the power of certain sites to generate story, and The Summer Isles, an account of sailing single-handed up the west coasts of Ireland and Scotland in search of mythical islands. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and his work has been translated into more than fifteen languages. Living on a small farm in Cornwall, he is actively involved in both marine and terrestrial conservation. Image credit: Lewis Jefferies This event will be in-person at Exeter Custom House. You can find out more about the accessibility of the Custom House here [https://quaywords.org.uk/about/access/]. If you have any access needs youd like to discuss with us before the event you can contact us on [email protected]. We can offer free carer tickets if you need help to support you to attend.

Join Pile Up! artists Louise Ashcroft, Farmer Glitch and Freya Gabie from 4pm at the Custom House where they will be on hand in the exhibition to answer questions about their artworks. After a short performance action by Louise at 5.30pm, the artists will be in conversation with Matt Hulland, Resource Recovery Manager at Exeter City Council about the materials and processes involved in making Pile Up! and wider issues of resource exhaustion and circular economies. There will be a paid bar at this event.