What a gift - 'Postman Poet' author sends books set in Devon by post, without leaving home

At this difficult time when most of the shops are shut, one Devon author is offering to post copies of her books to readers – without leaving her home!

Liz Shakespeare says ‘I have a post box in my front garden, so I can post a book to you or to one of your friends or relatives, while obeying the Stay At Home order!’

Liz lives at The Old Post Office in Littleham. Although there is no longer a post office in her front room, the Royal Mail post box is still there.

She says, ‘If you need to send a birthday present, a get well present, or just want to escape into another world for a while, choose a book set in Devon from my website www.lizshakespeare.co.uk or give me a ring on 01237 471165.’

Liz Shakespeare has become well known throughout the south-west for the five books she has written, all of which are set in Devon. Liz says ‘My inspiration is the people, the history and the landscapes of Devon. The most topical of my books is Fever: A Story from a Devon Churchyard which tells the true story of a Devon village struggling to cope during an epidemic 150 years ago.’

Also available is The Turning of the Tide, a novel based on the true story of a young Clovelly mother confined in Bideford Workhouse, The Postman Poet which tells the story of Devon man Edward Capern, The Memory Be Green: An Oral History of a Devon Village and All Around The Year, a book of short stories set in Devon.

Postage is free - Liz can sign books and inscribe them for a special present on request. '
Contact Liz through her website for book titles and prices www.lizshakespeare.co.uk 

Tel: 01237 471165

Signs of Summer. Join local Devon Author, Liz Shakespeare, at local events around the Southwest.

Readers who enjoy books with local settings will have the opportunity to buy signed copies this summer. Liz Shakespeare has become well-known as an author who brings to life the people, history and landscapes of Devon, and she has a busy summer ahead visiting many South-West events.

Liz said ‘My most recent book, The Postman Poet, tells the story of Devon’s own Edward Capern and I am particularly looking forward to telling readers about him this year, which marks the two hundredth anniversary of his birth.’

 

Liz has a long Devon ancestry which she feels has given her a good understanding of Devon and its people. The Postman Poet will be featured at the Dartmoor Folk Festival on August 10th when Liz will be joining with musicians Nick Wyke and Becki Driscoll to celebrate the life and songs of Devon’s Postman Poet.

Historical research was also the inspiration for her previous books, The Turning of the Tide, a true story of a young Clovelly mother confined in Bideford Workhouse, Fever: A Story from a Devon Churchyard, and The Memory Be Green: An Oral History of a Devon Village. All Around The Year, is a collection of twelve poignant stories, deeply rooted in the Devon countryside, and each linked to a month of the year from January through to December.

Liz will be signing copies of all her books at:

• Launceston Show on July 25th
• In the Magpie Marquee at the Mid-Devon Show on July 27th
• Woolsery Show on July 29th
• Clovelly Maritime Festival on August 3rd
• In the Crafts and Gifts Marquee at the North Devon Show on August 7th
• Okehampton Show on August 8th
• Dartmoor Folk Festival on August 10th and 11th
• Chagford Show on August 15th
• RHS Garden Rosemoor on August 16th and 17th
• Holsworthy Show on August 22nd
• Lustleigh Village Show on August 26th
• Clovelly Crab and Lobster Festival on September 1st

Liz’s books can also be ordered post-free from her website www.lizshakespeare.co.uk 

 

"A Sigh for Devon" - Bicentenary of Edward Capern’s birth.

It was two hundred years ago, on 21st January 1819, that Edward Capern, Devon’s Postman Poet, was born into a poor, working-class family in Tiverton. His father, a baker, could not afford to educate his son and would never have dreamt that he would become nationally renowned as a poet, winning plaudits from the Prime Minister and support from the biggest literary names of the day.

The bicentenary of his birth would, perhaps, have gone unnoticed if his extraordinary story had not been brought back to public attention by Devon author Liz Shakespeare. She has written The Postman Poet, a novel based on the life of Capern, and has published 34 of his 600 poems in The Poems of Edward Capern. While writing the novel, Liz drew on historical research and details in the poems to tell the astonishing story through Edward’s eyes as he struggles to support his family, capturing the opportunities and inequalities of Victorian North Devon.

Edward Capern became a postman following the introduction of the Penny Post, walking the 13 mile round trip between Bideford and Buckland Brewer 364 days a year. He would jot down poems while he was walking and he often wrote on the envelopes he was about to deliver: “He had to ask the recipients if he could keep the envelopes because he’d written poems on them,” said Liz Shakespeare, whose own cottage was on Capern’s round.

He was entirely self-taught but he had a local benefactor, William Frederick Rock from Barnstaple, who saw Capern’s early poems in the North Devon Journal in the 1850s and supported the publication of the first volume of poems. The book was a national success, winning the support of Charles Dickens, Alfred Lord Tennyson and Rowland Hill, the inventor of the Penny Post, as well as considerable local fame. Many people used to visit North Devon to see the Postman Poet set off on his round, at the same time as visiting the scenes made famous by Charles Kingsley’s book ‘Westward Ho!’ after which the seaside resort was named. Edward Capern was awarded a Civil List Pension by the Prime Minister for his services to literature and went on to write three further books of poems.

During her research, Liz found that some of his poems were intended to be sung, so collaborated with Devon musicians Nick Wyke and Becki Driscoll who set them to music for their CD, The Songs of Edward Capern.

Most of his poems are happy and extol the beauties of the North Devon countryside, but he was also very aware of the darker side of life. Although he was careful not to upset the aristocracy who bought his work, Capern was keen to use his pen to champion the cause of the poor and he managed to slip in many reminders, amongst his happier verses, that the poor should not be forgotten, and that labourers should be paid fair wages.

One poem Nick and Becki have set to music is The Dinner Bell, a tale of the haves and have-nots in which Capern laments the plight of families who could hear the sound of distant dinner bells but had no food themselves.

In recognition of Capern’s commitment to social justice, £1 from each copy of the poetry collection sold is being donated to the Northern Devon Food Bank, and more than £500 has been raised so far.

Together, Liz Shakespeare, Nick Wyke and Becki Driscoll have appeared at music festivals and book festivals to tell the story of Edward Capern through words and song.

On Monday 21st January Liz will be placing flowers on Edward Capern’s grave in Heanton Punchardon to commemorate the birth of Devon’s Postman Poet two hundred years ago. 

A Sigh for Devon

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Bright haunt of the daffodil, myrtle, and rose,
Of solitude sweet, and of pleasant repose,
Where a welcome waits all with a heart in its hand,
My Devon! dear Devon! my beautiful land!
Blest region of valley, hill, woodland, and river,
I love thee, dear land, and shall love thee for ever.
Edward Capern

Portrait of Edward Capern - Photo copyright Burton Art Gallery (All Rights Reserved)

Devon Author, Liz Shakespeare with musicians Nick Wyke and Becki Driscoll

Here lies The "Postman Poet" Edward Capern