THE woman in charge of promoting the work of Charles Causley says she hopes his work can be read more widely far beyond his native region.

Jennifer McDerra is behind the ‘Spark to Flame’ project, which aims to preserve and promote the legacy of Charles Causley in Cornwall and beyond.

Ms McDerra took up the role last September with a view to establishing a lasting legacy for Causley’s significant contribution to the arts. The name of the project is taken from Causley’s poem, ‘Kelly Wood’.

She told the Post: “We need him to be taught and read. If that doesn’t happen at universities and schools in the South West, it’s not going to happen elsewhere.

“He was a great poet and well revered by his peers.

“The key aspect is to maintain a balance between the local and wider relevance of Causley’s life and work — Launceston wants to keep Causley as a person and I think they should, but as writer it would be an injustice to how good he is if he was only read locally.

“Absolutely everyone reads and knows Wordsworth as well as knowing of his commitment to the Lake District — I want Causley to be the same.

“I really believe in his work. I think we have got to get more people reading and researching him.

“We need to do the thing Charles didn’t like to do, I think — go out and tell people about him.”

Ms McDerra first became aware of Causley while studying an undergraduate degree in English at Nottingham. She wrote her dissertation on the poet Philip Larkin, and read letters between Larkin and Causley.

She studied a Masters degree in Migration at Sussex, which she said led her to ‘thinking about people’s stories in relation to place’.

“I think everyone knows a different part of the same person [Causley].

“I have to respect the man. My job is to promote the work. The more I read of him, the more I wish I had met him.”

Ms McDerra has helped to organise many events, which would lead up to the centenary of Causley’s birth — August 24 1917.

This is despite the fact her role is only guaranteed until May — Ms McDerra hopes the post will continue for longer subject to enough funding, and is currently writing applications to various funding bodies.

Her hopes for the centenary include a possible tour of the literary festivals: “Hopefully we can get a bit of a national tour going and finish in Launceston — build momentum and bring it back here.”

The next of the events Ms McDerra has helped to organise for this year celebrates Causley’s friend, the Cornish poet of the Clays, Jack Clemo. The first in a collaborative endeavour called ‘The Granite Sessions’ is being hosted by Bodmin Moor Poetry Festival in association with The Charles Causley Festival and the Spark to Flame project on March 11 — the centenary of Clemo’s birth.

It takes place at Wheal Martin China Clay Museum and Park, St Austell. During the day there will be a creative writing workshop (booking essential) with Luke Thompson, who has written the first biography of Clemo, and Isabel Galleymore, the current Charles Causley poet-in-residence.

Email [email protected] or call 07812 637113 to book — Workshop £7 including free entry to the evening event.

The evening event, £3 admission, will include open readings, a performance from a founding member of Kneehigh, the launch of a Jack Clemo short story pamphlet, a showing of the film ‘The Wrecking Season’ by Nick and Jane Darke, and a reading by Philip Marsden, from his best-selling book.

More information can be found at bodminmoorpoetryfestival.co.uk

Open days continue on the last Wednesdays of the month at Cyprus Well, Causley’s former home. The next open day will be on March 30 from 1pm to 4pm. Tickets are £7 and can be purchased from Launceston Tourist Information Centre.

Ms McDerra has also programmed a series of events for Isabel Galleymore, who will be working with university students and local communities.

The programme will include an event in April, where Isabel will give a reading of the work she has written while staying at Cyprus Well.

April will also see the presentation to the winner of the 2015 Charles Causley Poetry Prize — Claire Dyer. The prize is £2,000 and a week-long stay at Cyprus Well.

A blue plaque will also be placed on Cyprus Well in April.

The Causley Trust will also be seeking the next Causley writer-in-residence, who will start at Cyprus Well in May.

Ms McDerra said the former home of Causley ‘gives us a place to anchor his legacy and create a centre for literature in Launceston’.

More details of future events when they are available will be posted at causleytrust.org