Riddler in Residence
The Riddler in Residence project works with a range of local community groups, including families, young people and formal education settings, with the aim of inspiring them to creatively connect with their heritage. The Riddler in Residence project is supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Riddler in Residence 2024: Jon Seagrave aka Jonny Fluffypunk
Summer 2024
Stand-up poet and lo-fi theatremaker Jonny ‘Fluffypunk’ has been showcasing his art around the UK and occasionally beyond for over 25 years, deafly fusing bittersweet autobiography, disillusionment and wonder into an act that has established him as a firm favourite at gigs and festivals. He has two volumes of poems, micro-fictions and “threadbare philosophy” published by Burning Eye, and his solo ‘no-fi’ stand-up spoken word theatre shows, including his latest, If We Just Keep Going, We Will Get There in the End, have toured extensively around theatres, pubs, garden sheds, summer houses, record shops and Britain’s other ad-hoc performance spaces in a blatant championing of homespun DIY culture. When not performing, Jonny runs workshops, putting shapes and colours into the minds of young and old alike. He’s a crucial third of Hip Yak Poetry Shack, ‘the south west’s favourite pop-up poetry event’, and also runs Mr Fluffypunk’s Penny Gaff, an alternative cabaret in his adopted home town of Stroud.
Riddler in Residence 2023
Aly Stoneman
August – November 2023
Our second Riddler of 2023 was Aly Stoneman. Aly made her debut as Riddler in Residence at our BioBlitz event on Cathedral Green where she hosted an activity where visitors were able to create their own nature-themed postcards.
In August Aly hosted her Wondering Words workshops with St Petrock’s; a charity that support the homeless in Exeter. During these workshops, participants were able to tell their stories through poetry, storytelling, spoken word, fiction, digital/recording and doodling.
Aly also worked with the local community in her Green Words Poetry Workshops. Participants gained inspiration from the Cathedral’s green spaces, including Cathedral Green and the Bishop’s Palace Garden, to create their own nature-themed poetry.
Alongside her workshops, Aly held sessions at Exeter Science Centre’s Climate Exhibition for visitors to create climate themed poetry and discuss their views on change to help the environment.
Aly also presented an opportunity for people to submit their own poems inspired by the green spaces around Exeter Cathedral and Exeter. These poems, alongside poems created during previous workshops, were put together to create the Green Words Poetry Anthology and Map which were launched at a poetry evening event in November 2023.
The Green Words Poetry Map will be on display in Exeter Cathedral until 31 January 2024.
James Wilkes
May – July 2023
Our first Riddler of 2023 was James Wilkes. Taking inspiration from the topics of nature inside the Exeter Book, James held work workshops with various groups around Exeter. In June, he delivered workshops with students from Exeter College, Exeter Cathedral volunteers and ESOL learners from St Sidwell’s Community Centre.
James also held public poetry sessions at Exeter Library with the local community. These sessions were held across four weeks and participants took inspiration from Exeter Cathedral’s medieval charms, fantastical carvings, and old English poems to create their own poems and creative writing.
To close his residency, James held evening of poetry inside the Lady Chapel where he read poems written during his workshops and presented audio recordings of poems written by the local community inspired by the Cathedral and its ancient collections.
Riddler in Residence 2022: Chris White
January – March 2022
Our first Riddler in Residence, Chris White, worked to empower young co-creators to engage a reinterpretation of the Exeter Book, by drawing connections between 10th Century poetry and contemporary verse.
Throughout the project, Chris hosted a variety of creative workshops with schools and youth groups from the surrounding area of Exeter, to expand their artistic vision through poetry and performance. During his residency, Chris also led I Wonder… a showcase of poetry, comedy and riddles which included a poetic performance by Chris, live music from Hal Kelly and raucous riddles by surrealist comedian Edward Tripp.
Chris White is a spoken-word artist based in Exeter, who often performs his silly & surreal work across the UK, from Tongue Fu to Latitude. He’s created several theatre shows, including Moist, Moist, Moist which recently received a National Partnership Award from The Pleasance Theatre Trust. He’s a former ‘Bard of Exeter’ and the founder and host of Spork! Poetry CIC.
Exeter Cathedral’s 2022 Riddler in Residence Project was a collaboration with Literature Works and supported by Arts Council England.
