Library Talks l Cornwall Uncharted with Dr Paul Taylor-McCartney l Wednesday 24th June

Our next Library talk will be with Dr Paul Taylor-McCartney entitled “Cornwall Uncharted“. This will take place in the Reading Room from 1:30pm-3pm on Wednesday 24th June.

In this Library talk, Paul will discuss his new book, ‘Cornwall Uncharted: Mapping Cornwall’s Queer History of Concealment, Culture and Creativity‘ and the research journey behind it. In conversation with Gareth D. L. Rees, Paul will explore how Cornwall’s towns, coves, chapels, studios and lanes shaped the ways queer lives could be lived, hidden and expressed across four centuries.

Paul will draw on archives, literature and lived landscapes to show Cornwall not simply as a backdrop, but as an active part of these histories: a place that offered cover, community, creative space and, at times, constraint. The talk will move between well-known figures and quieter stories, tracing how reputation, discretion and local networks influenced what could be said, what could be recorded, and what was left unsaid. He will also talk through the book’s map, illustrations and visual language, showing how images can hold meaning when the archive falls silent. He will also outline the structure of the book and the key sections that shape the journey across Cornwall, explaining how each chapter follows a different landscape and a different kind of story.

Alongside the themes of concealment, culture and creativity, Paul will also reflect on the pleasures of place-based reading: how to notice thresholds, routes and rooms, and how landscapes can carry histories that formal records only hint at.

Copies of Paul’s book will be available for sale after the talk.

Please email enquiries@morrablibrary.org.uk or call 01736 364474 to be entered into the ballot for a ticket. The ballot closes on Monday 15th June.

Entry to this event is free but donations are welcomed to help support The Morrab Library (suggested £5).