Every month at The Morrab Library we host talks in the Reading Room for library members and non-members alike. The programme is as eclectic as the library’s collection – from the Holy Wells of Cornwall to the History of the English Miniature Painting – and meander through Literature, Poetry, Art, Geology and a host of other fascinating subjects in between. 

Often, the writers, academics, poets and artists we invite to speak at the Library generously let us record their talk so we can share them with a wider audience online. You can browse the selection of recorded talks here.

Some of our brilliant speakers also use the Library’s archive, newspaper and book collections for their own research. In homage to BBC Radio 4’s In Our Time, we are hoping to share a “Reading List” to go with each talk recording, in case you would like to follow up on the talk by borrowing related titles from the Library or delving into our archives. 

We’ll be publishing these reading lists here on our blog on a monthly basis so please do keep checking back for updated reading lists. 

Several items in The Morrab Library collection offer us insights into how Cornish was being spoken, used, and regarded during the nineteenth century in West Penwith. The Reverend Wladislaw Lach-Szyrma of Newlyn carried out investigations into the use of Cornish during the 1870s and worked to promote the language. He instigated an essay prize, the entries for which are held in the Morrab Library’s archives (Ref. MAN/58). 

At the same time, Cornish was featuring in regional newspapers and novels. In March 2024, Kensa Broadhurst gave a fascinating talk on “The Cornish Language in West Penwith in the 19th Century” at The Morrab Library through which she explored what these sources tell us about how Cornish was being used during the nineteenth century and what this means for the wider history and status of the language

Kensa has just completed her PhD at the Institute of Cornish Studies, Exeter University. Her studies were funded by the Cornwall Heritage Trust and the Q Fund. She researched the status of the Cornish language between 1777-1904, that is, the period in which it is widely believed to have been extinct. A former modern languages teacher, Kensa is a fluent speaker of Cornish, a bard of the Cornish Gorsedh, and both teaches and examines the language. She is currently the Languages Coordinator for the University of Exeter’s Cornwall Campus. 

You can watch a recording of her talk here.

She has also kindly put together a “Reading List” if you would like to follow up on the talk with any further reading. 

Queen of the Guarded Mounts – John Oxenham

Deep Down – R.M. Ballantyne

Beatrice of St Mawes 

Tin – Edward Bosanketh

The Story of the Cornish Language – Peter Beresford Ellis

The Handbook of the Cornish Language – Henry Jenner

Pentreath and Victor’s essays on the Cornish Language are held in our Archive (MAN/58). Please email enquiries@morrablibrary.org.uk  if you would like to arrange an appointment to see these documents or if you would like to reserve any of the books mentioned on her Reading List. 

Artist Faye Dobinson will be displaying the artwork created during her residency at The Morrab Library in the Elizabeth Treffry Room from Tuesday 23rd to Saturday 27th April 2024.

Faye called her residency ‘Community Power Structure’, a title borrowed from a 1953 book cover that caught her eye while visiting the library. You can find out more about Faye’s work in this blog we shared last July. 

As the months progressed, she shared glimpses of the work on @communitypowerstructure, where she highlighted some of the lesser spotted details within the Library rooms, such as the locks and escutcheons. She explored the library through a myriad of different artistic processes and through that, different facets of the space revealed themselves and found form in curious and unexpected works of art. From moulds of obsolete locks to cyanotypes of plants outside.

Reflecting upon her residency, Faye commented:

“I have found that my time at Morrab has impacted my practice moving forward. I have a curious mind that is alive with possibilities, and a library – ESPECIALLY the Morrab is like an embodiment of possibility. 

You begin looking for a book on one thing, then find yourself on a magical mystery tour, led by what piques your curiosity. It is a broadly roaming journey that is impossible to have via google and other online means to research: Your own curiosity cannot be prescribed by the library, you are not just a generalised algorithm being presented with ideas. To a library you are an intrigued, vital intersection of interests, events, loves, likes and dislikes. You are a human being.

I have been watching myself make more work around the initial keyhole studies that I made: the keyholes have taken on layers of meaning over time, becoming portals populating mystical, rural spaces or suggestive openings to unknown rooms, they are signifiers of quiet and peace. They are guardians of knowledge.  

I am really looking forward to presenting my findings and sharing my journey within the walls of Morrab Library” 

Visitors are welcome to pop in during library hours (10am – 4pm) next week to see the exhibition. The Elizabeth Treffry Room is upstairs, turn right at the top of the stairs and it is the first door on the left. The artist will be in situ on Thursday 25th (1-3pm), Friday 26th (1-3pm) and Saturday 27th (10am – 1pm) to chat to visitors about her work.  

She will be running the last of her series of Art Clubs, “art and soul sessions”, at the library on Thursday 25th April from 10.30am – 12pm. Tickets are £10 and available to book directly from fayedobinson@me.com.

She will also be giving a talk at the Library on Wednesday 24th about her affection for The Morrab Library, what she unearthed about the space and herself through being one of the recent Artists in Residence. Tickets have already been allocated via a ballot but we will be recording it to share on our website.

@communitypowerstructure

www.fayedobinson.com

On Thursday evening 2 May 2024 the inaugural John le Carré Memorial Lecture will be presented by The Morrab Library at the Acorn Theatre in Penzance. Tickets for the event have sold out.

Sponsored by The Arts Society West Cornwall and planned to be a biennial event, the first lecture will feature guest speaker Mick Herron, celebrated author of the Slow Horses / Slough House espionage novels, which have been adapted into a successful TV series starring Gary Oldman and Kristin Scott Thomas.

World-renowned espionage writer John le Carré (real name: David John Moore Cornwell) lived in St Buryan, Cornwall, until his death in 2020, at the age of 89. He was the author of 26 novels, including The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Constant Gardener, The Night Manager, The Little Drummer Girl, A Perfect Spy et al, many of which have been adapted into feature films and television series, plus five works of nonfiction, including his 2016 memoir, The Pigeon Tunnel: Stories from My Life.

Le Carré was a passionate supporter of the Morrab from the 1970s, later serving as president (1997-2002), then for many years as a patron. He called the library “a Cornish treasure house, a meeting place for like-minded souls, and a vibrant forum for contemporary writing,” with a special interest in encouraging young people to read and be inspired by the place.

The title of Herron’s lecture is “Running Away with the Circus.” Raised in Newcastle upon Tyne, he studied English Literature at Oxford. His first novel, Down Cemetery Road, set in Oxford, was published in 2003. Herron’s most recent novel, The Secret House, provides insights to the Slough House series with its riveting reveal about a disastrous MI5 mission in post-Cold War Berlin.

Associated events for this inaugural lecture include a loaned exhibition of John le Carré memorabilia at Penlee House Gallery & Museum (17 April-6 May); a “meet the author” gathering hosted by Penzance Mayor Cllr Stephen Reynolds; a writing workshop with students at Penwith College; and a “Conversation with Mick Herron” plus book signing at the Edge of the World Bookshop, on Market Jew Street in Penzance (3 May).

The Acorn event has been planned with the full and enthusiastic cooperation of le Carré’s family. His son Nick Cornwell will speak about his father in advance of the lecture, and Nick’s brother Simon Cornwell and their families plan to attend.

“When we read a story, we inhabit it. The covers of the book are like a roof and four walls. What is to happen next will take place within the four walls of the story. And this is possible because the story’s voice makes everything its own.”  

John Berger, Artist and Author

At the moment, I’m working with several organisations, including Morrab Library, researching the story of Catherine Payton Phillips (1727 – 1794). Originally from Dudley in the West Midlands, Catherine settled in Redruth and married a local widower, a Copper Agent – William Phillips. The story of William’s descendants is fascinating too. 

They had met years before when Catherine was a young woman. However, from what I’ve read about her, I don’t think she wanted to settle down so young and be a stepmother to two very young boys. She extensively travelled throughout her life, through the U.K., Ireland, Europe and America – encountering crocodiles and journeying through swamps and prairies. 

Catherine and William met again later in life and married. William had never stopped wanting for them to be together all through the time they were apart. 

She was many things, as a well travelled Quaker preacher, but also a campaigner and interested in local ecology and communities. In particular, Catherine had two amazing ideas that have fuelled my research – the desire to ‘beautify wastelands’ and to grow fruit trees to feed communities.  

Over the last two years, I have devised a programme of artist residences at various locations to share my project, and the story of her life and ideas. So far, I have taken part in residencies at Kresen Kernow, Redruth Library and held events for Fun Palaces. 

As part of this programme of events, I have created a Cabinet of Curiosities, which is full of objects that all hint at aspects of her life, her ideas, the importance of orchards and facts about apples (a symbol of the project). There are many exciting and engaging strands to this project, as well as the Cabinet, including an interactive art piece called ‘The Library of Forgotten Fruits’, which will be on display during my residency. 

I also arrange workshops at Krowji and across the South West, enabling others to explore their stories and memories through interesting projects. I offer creative mentoring, where we work together over a number of sessions experimenting with different art techniques to bring your narrative into focus.

Finally, I’m the founder of the @palimpsest_project. This initiative helps record fragmented memories and stories of families through projects and kits. My recent research has been about the history of piecework. This is particularly apt in light of the pandemic crisis, where parents were trying to navigate how to work from home, while looking after loved ones.

Members and visitors alike are welcome to pop in to see Vicki’s ‘Cabinet of Curiosities’ which will be displayed in the Elizabeth Treffry Room (upstairs) for the duration of the week. Vicki will also be running workshops and events which you can find out about on our events page.