FREE 11 am – 4 pm. Drop in to the Exeter Custom House to be immersed in Ellen’s new piece, taking you on a journey down the river Exe, and investigating scientific themes around ecology, climate change and the potential impact of beavers. With sound and projections, you can experience this immersive literary soundwalk, lying…

Are you looking for new ways to engage young learners with creative writing and composition? Quay Words has teamed up with Cornwall-based The Writers’ Block to explore ways that Exeter Custom House can be a catalyst for young people and schools. In addition to our programme of schools visits, we are offering CPD training workshops…

Join us at Custom House for a lively conversation event between a team of three creative writers and a team of three scientists, all based in Devon, and all actively working to address the climate crisis in different ways through their work. Ellen Wiles, Quay Words’ Spring Writer in Residence, on a theme of ‘Science’,…

Writer-in-Residence and creative writing lecturer Ellen Wiles will lead you on a walk from Custom House along the River Exe, taking breaks for fun and varied creative writing exercises that engage with the experience of nature in this unique riverscape. Suitable for children aged 6+. No previous creative writing experience necessary! At booking, you will…

Louisa Adjoa Parker will be celebrating her Quay Words residencies by sharing her commissions with us. Louisa will read from her poem ‘Let the river sing’ and a brand now commission following her Autumn 2021 residency.  Louisa will be joined by some of the Quay Voices she worked with across her residency. All the work performed will…

With a top hat from a junk shop and mail-order wand, pioneering storyteller and writer Sally Pomme Clayton explores the secret world of the magician. In this intimate, enchanting performance, she mixes fact with fiction, fragments of myth with antique jokes; dazzling fairytales and snippets of culture and science, forgotten folklore to mysterious images on…

We’re thrilled to welcome Peter Stott to Exeter Custom House to kick off the Quay Words Science season with a discussion about communicating climate science and creative writing. Peter will be joined in conversation by the award-winning novelist Virginia Baily. Peter will be talking about his recent book Hot Air: The Inside Story of the Battle…

We’re thrilled to welcome former writer-in-residence Patrick Gale back to Exeter Custom House. Patrick will be reading from his soon to-be-released next novel Mother’s Boy, and discussing his research into Charles Causley as well as his work in general. Mother’ Boy will be available to pre-order at the event and Patrick will be signing book plates. Patrick…

Quay Words and Poetry Africa Final Day Celebration and Networking with Tolu Agbelusi Throughout 2021 we’ve been thrilled to work with Poetry Africa to curate 5 days of work celebrating, showcasing and developing women writers from the UK and South Africa, funded by the British Council. On this final day, we invite women writers from…

Quay Words has been privileged this year to work with Poetry Africa in Durban South Africa on a programme of development days to showcase and bring together women writers from the UK and South Africa. This event is our final collaboration for the programme and we’re thrilled to be be presenting two fantastic poets to…