Our theme for Telltales in January 2026 is simply New, in honour of the New Year…

Here is an A to Z of possible ideas for the New theme which might inspire you:

New Alphabets or new Angles?
New Books or Boots or Beginnings?
New Chapters or a new Challenge?
New Day dawns?
New Events – happenings in your world or globally?
New Friends – or old?
New Generation (X, Y, Z or Alpha)?
New Homes and new Hopes?
New Ideas or new Impetus?
New Jokes and new Jokers? 🙂
New Kid on the block?
New Life or turning a new Leaf?
New Modernity or a new Me?
New New – what is truly novel under the Sun?
New Openings and Opportunities?
New Pastures – for sheep or for humans?
New Question – an unexpected or uninvited query?
New Remains – modern archaeology?
New Style – innovative or recycled?
New Take on a traditional fairy story?
New Uses for old words?
New Ventures and adVentures
New Wave – on the sea, in cinema or in music?
New Xrays – looking beyond the surface?
New Year – here’s to 2026!
New Zines – going to print?

We’re looking forward to seeing your creative input in poetry, short story, prose or an excerpt from a longer work. Please think in terms of a maximum of 10 minutes of reading or around 1500 words.

Please submit by Saturday 24 January 2026 to info@telltales.org.uk

Telltales will take place on Tuesday 27 January 2026, starting at 6pm, at Falmouth Princess Pavilion.

Thank you!

Please join us for Telltales at Falmouth Art Gallery, with a wonderful group of readers on the theme of Body.

Our Telltales event takes place on Tuesday 25 November, starting at 6pm.

We’ll have a bar and a small bookstall.

We hope to see you there.

Thank you!

Our theme for Telltales in November 2025 is Body, a word that suggests a multitude of possibilities…

Might it be, for example:

* The human Body – in all its evolved complexity and rich diversity?
* Body parts – limbs, organs and senses
* A Body of water – seas, lakes, rivers and puddles
* Body decoration – tattoos, makeup, facepaint or jewellery?
* A Body of knowledge or a Body of evidence – the story behind the story?
* A fruiting Body – our theme image
* A Body of work – in literature, art or science?
* A vehicle Body – car, ship or aircraft?
* Body colour – in a painting, print or photograph
* A heavenly Body – comet, planet or angel?
* The Body of a tree – roots, trunk, branches and beyond
* Out-of-Body experience – astral projection?
* An official Body – interaction with government or bureaucracy
* An independent Body – standing distinct from others
* Body and Soul – our physical and spiritual makeup
* Nobody, Somebody, Anybody…

Which Body or Bodies will you choose?

We’re looking forward to seeing your creative input in poetry, short story, prose or an excerpt from a longer work. Please think in terms of a maximum of 10 minutes of reading or around 1500 words.

Please submit by Saturday 22 November to info@telltales.org.uk

Telltales will take place on Tuesday 25 November, starting at 6pm, at Falmouth Art Gallery.

Thank you!

Please join us for Telltales at Falmouth Library, with a panoply of poets on our theme of Poetic Forms, around National Poetry Day.

Our Telltales event takes place on Tuesday 30 September, starting at 6pm.

We’ll have a bar and a small bookstall.

We hope to see you there.

Thank you!

Our theme for Telltales in September 2025 is Poetic Forms, in celebration of National Poetry Day. We will be at Falmouth Library.

For this event we’re thinking about the many different forms in which poetry can be written.

The poster shows just some of these forms.

In what form(s) will you respond?

Might you write a poem that combines multiple forms?

Can you write poems about the same theme using different forms?

Can you devise new poetic forms, based on one or more of the existing ones?

We’re looking forward to seeing your creative input, in whichever form(s) you choose. Please think in terms of a maximum of 10 minutes of reading or around 1500 words.

Please submit by Saturday 27 September to info@telltales.org.uk

Telltales takes place on Tuesday 30 September, 6pm at Falmouth Library, The Moor, Falmouth, TR11 3QA

Thank you!

Please join us for Telltales at Falmouth Princess Pavilion, with a great selection of readers on our theme of Communication, in poetry, prose and short stories.

Our Telltales event takes place on Tuesday 29 July, starting at 6pm.

The Pavilion Bar will be open and we’ll have a small bookstall.

We hope to see you there.

Thank you!

Our theme for Telltales in July 2025 is Communication

For this event, we will be Falmouth Princess Pavilion in the Garden Room.

Here are some possible ideas, to get you thinking about a submission:

* A letter out-of-the-blue
* Whispers in the shadows
* Lost in translation
* Earworms – the songs that won’t go away
* A message in a bottle
* Blurred boundaries
* Emojis – are we returning to hieroglyphics?
* Amusing “autocorrected” text messages
* Long-distance relationships
* Smoke signals – “habemus papam” ?
* A crossed line or misdirected SMS
* Rosetta Stone(s)
* The family meeting
* Nuclear semiotics – how to send a hazard warning into the future
* Curious customs and eccentric etiquette
* An antique postcard – “wish you were still here” ?
* Misinterpreted song lyrics
* . . . – – – . . .
* Signs and unsigns
* Wrong numbers and unexpected results
* Long-lost relatives

With such a wide-reaching theme, how will you respond?

We’re looking forward to seeing your creative input, whether in poetry, prose, short story or an excerpt from a longer work. Please think in terms of a maximum of 10 minutes of reading or around 1500 words.

Please submit by Saturday 26 July to info@telltales.org.uk

Telltales takes place on Tuesday 29 July, 6pm at Falmouth Princess Pavilion, 41 Melvill Road, Falmouth, TR11 4AR

Thank you!

Please join us for Telltales at Falmouth Art Gallery with a great selection of readers, bringing you our theme of Where are We?, in poetry, prose and short stories.

Our Telltales event takes place on Tuesday 27 May, starting at 6pm.

We’ll have a small bookstall and a bar.

We hope to see you there.

Thank you!

Our theme for Telltales in May 2025 is Where Are We?

For this event, we’ll be at Falmouth Art Gallery, alongside the wonderful Where Are We? exhibition. We are looking forward to receiving your submissions on the theme, from any perspective.

Here are some possible ideas, to get you thinking about a submission:

• “Lost”
• My home town – then and now
• Inaccessible places
• A favourite travelogue
• Found objects
• Psychogeographical ponderings
• A fork in the road
• Missing people
• Towns and Villages lost to the Sea
• Writing about people and place
• Utopian dreams
• Dystopian nightmares
• Out-of-Place Artifacts
• Virtual and Real Worlds
• An imaginary map
• On the border or between worlds
• Off-grid adventures

How will you respond to this broad and intriguing theme?

We’re looking forward to seeing your creative input, whether in poetry, prose, short story or an excerpt from a longer work. Please think in terms of a maximum of 10 minutes of reading or around 1500 words.

Please submit by Saturday 24 May to info@telltales.org.uk

Telltales takes place on Tuesday 27 May, 6pm at Falmouth Art Gallery, The Moor, Falmouth, TR11 2RT

Thank you!

Please join us for Telltales at Falmouth Princess Pavilion with a great line-up, reading on our theme of Smiles and Laughter, in poetry, prose and short stories.

Our Telltales event takes place on Tuesday 25 March, starting at 6pm.

We’ll have a small bookstall and the Pavilion bar will be open for tea, coffee and other drinks.

We hope to see you there.

Thank you!