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Book News

Fishermen’s Mission fundraiser

Salty Cove is the working title of the third in a trilogy of beautiful books celebrating the Cornish fishing industry and raising funds for the Fisherman’s Mission. Due for release in June after three years in the making, it follows the successful Salt Of The Earth (2014) and Sea, Salt And Solitude (2017). While these volumes focused on Newlyn and north Cornwall respectively, Salty Cove lands in Mevagissey, the second largest harbour in Cornwall. Professional black and white portraits by Matthew Facey and Sally Mitchell are accompanied by life stories collected by volunteer writers such as Barbara Hocking, who said: “This wonderful book holds time still, speaking of how Cornwall prides itself on being a welcome port in a storm to sailors and visitors alike, and why that’s worth preserving, just as it is, for the future.” All three titles aspire to be a living piece of social history. A crowdfunding page will open on February 14 for six weeks, to help make Salty Cove a reality; for a small donation, you can have your name printed in the book. Visit www.fishermensmission.org.uk and click on Mevagissey.

Gale Profiles Causley

Sunday Times bestselling author and Cornwall resident Patrick Gale is set to launch his latest novel in March. Mother’s Boy is based on the known facts of the boyhood and youth of Launceston poet Charles Causley and the life of his mother Laura, who raised him singlehandedly. Waterstones describes the novel as “tender, compassionate and rich in psychological truth … a child genius' path through life and the secret desires he must keep hidden.” The author is a patron of the Charles Causley Trust, and they will celebrate the publication together with a three-day festival from March 4 to 6. Events will include a workshop for local students, book talks and signings, the launch of the Causley Young Person’s Poetry competition and a special evening event at the Eagle House Hotel with the author, folk singer (and distant relative) Jim Causley and documentarian/filmmaker Jane Darke. Venues will include Cyprus Well, the modest terraced house that was the Causleys’ final home. For further information, visit www.causleytrust.org/whats-on/ or preorder the book at Bookshop.org A three-year heritage project has culminated in a beautiful collection of works inspired by celebrating Penzance’s Art Deco seawater lido. Jubilee Pool Stories explores the pool’s pre-history and 1935 opening through to its modern geothermal innovations, delving into its acclaimed architecture and its central role in the lives of local people and swimming culture. An archive website features films, audio postcards, oral histories and over 600 specially digitised and catalogued images alongside animations produced by Penwith College and Falmouth University. Co-editor and contributor Hannah May - who officially opened the new geothermal pool last August in honour of her late grandmother, swimmer and pool devotee Joyce Cooper - said: "Sharing my family’s Jubilee Pool story has been an immense joy, and the book highlights the intergenerational importance of the pool. What also resounded for me was how tirelessly the pool’s supporters have campaigned for its survival in the wake of devastating storms and funding cuts, and ardently continue to do so.” The book can be purchased from the pool’s ticket kiosk, online at www.jubileepool.co.uk and from The Edge of the World bookshop in Penzance. The archive website can be found at www.jubileepoolstories.co.uk

Writers of the Clay

The spoil tips of the China Clay industry have inspired writers including Jack Clemo, Salome Hocking, EV Thompson and more. Now, as writer-in-residence at Wheal Martyn Museum, Jane Pugh will celebrate the Writers of the Clay and aim to inspire others to follow in their footsteps. Jane will run two walking, writing and creating workshops with local community groups and families at either end of February half term. The first, on February 19, will be themed around Nature and Natural History; the second, on February 26, will explore the Unnatural and Supernatural. Participants’ words will be crafted by local ceramicists into and onto ‘story bowls’ and ‘poetry pots’ to be exhibited at Wheal Martyn. “I’m interested in where nature and industry co-exist, and I’m curious to find out if this resonates with local people who live their lives among the extraordinariness of both,” says Jane, who is based in Penzance. “I’m interested in flowers, birds, grasses, insects – the miniscule against the mighty; and I’m interested in words associated with clay - extraction, crushing, blending - to see if they evoke story scenarios or poems.” This residency is a pilot for a planned wider project using the literary heritage of locations around the South West.