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Clive Blake - Cornish Poet

Blake was born into a farming family and has always lived in the beautiful Duchy of Cornwall, on the South Western tip of the UK. The way he views the world and expresses those views is, obviously, very strongly influenced by his immediate environment and his Cornish and Celtic DNA.

He is both a published poet and performance poet. He is widely known as 'Cornish Poet Clive Blake' and has many of his poems on the internet in illustrative formats, including video. He has his own unique performance style and performs his poetry under the banner of 'Clive Live'. His Cornish themed poems are very popular, but he writes on a diverse range of topics and is particularly well known for his eco, disability, wedding and funeral poetry. Blake has a wry sense of humour and is quoted as saying "I am registered as blind; the more modern terminology being S.S.I., Severely Sight Impaired. I stopped describing myself as being S.S.I., since I kept getting coach loads of tourists turning up at my home, after mistaking me for a Site of Scientific Interest".

Personal Life

Blake's father was A R J (Arthur Robert John) Rowse and mother was Joan (Lavinia Joan). After his parent's divorce, his mother returned to using her maiden surname of Blake. Blake decided to also change his surname from Rowse to Blake soon afterwards. In 1979, this change was registered by deed-poll. Blake has one sibling, a sister called Susan (Lillian Susan). Blake enjoyed growing up and working on the family's farm of Little Skewes, in the parish of St Wenn. Little Skewes is in the heart of the Cornish countryside, and had been farmed by the Blake family for many generations. Over the years, Blake has lived at St Wenn, Whitecross (near Wadebridge), St Teath and Newquay.

Blake has been married twice and has two children, Adrian and Amy from his first marriage.

Heritage

In 2006, Channel 4 television screened a three part series entitled 'The Face of Britain' narrated by Neil Oliver. This series used DNA research, carried out by Oxford University, on volunteers whose maternal and paternal lines could be traced back for a few generations to the same basic locality. Through DNA samples from three areas in the British Isles, the research sought to find data on peoples' Celtic, Viking or Anglo Saxon origins. Blake took part in the research project. The first programme of the series concentrated on the Celts and Cornwall in particular. Cornwall was known to be one of the last strongholds of the Celts, thought to have been the first peoples to inhabit Britain after the Ice Age, around 10,000 years ago. Oxford University took photographs and facial measurements to work out typical facial features influenced by Celtic DNA. During this programme photographs of people who exemplified Celtic features were morphed together and this included Blake's photograph.

Other Interests

Blake had always loved playing chess and, in his mid-twenties, played for the Newquay and Perranporth Chess Club 'A' Team. He was also a member of the bell ringing team for St Wenn church. Blake's grandmother, Lily, often stayed at the farm during the worst of the winter and would often warn Blake not to trip over the gravestones when walking in the dark through the cemetery to attend bell ringing practice. Maybe, Lily was worried he would trip over one of the many relatives interred there!

Poetry

Blake is quoted as saying "Under the banner of 'Clive Live' I have performed my poetry at village halls, town halls, church halls, churches, chapels, abbeys, streets, beaches, town squares, piazzas, open air theatres, cinemas, marquees, barns, cafes, pubs, restaurants, hotels, libraries, schools, gardens, care homes and stately homes. So I think the one thing I can claim is versatility." [[File:Clive Blake -Cornish Poet Clive Blake |Clive Blake-Cornish Poet ].Some of the Festivals Clive performed at were: Charles Causley Festival, John Betjemen Centenary Celebrations, performed 28-08-2006 at Carruan Farm, Polzeath, Cornwall; Fowey du Maurier, Fringe Festivals , Art8 Newquay Arts and Culture Festival (3 years in a row) , Camelot Community Hub Environment Event - Gaia Energy Centre, Delabole, Cornwall Federation of Women's Institutes Speakers Directory.

Over the years, Blake's poems have been used in newspapers, magazines, diaries, calendars, college year books and in wedding, funeral and other such ceremonies. Blake has had his poems published in book form, in more than 60 different anthologies. Blake has also been listed in The Society of Classical Poets website, where he is included with seven other very notable poets. The other poets included in this section were Robert Louis Stephenson, William Shakespeare, Joseph Conrad, John Donne, Alexander Pope, Hilaire Belloc and Emily Dickenson. It is worth noting that, at the time of inclusion, Blake was the only 'living poet' included in this 'Epitaphs of Great Poets and Writers' list. Blake wrote an epitaph for Charlotte Dymond: Charlotte, a servant at Penhale Farm in Davidstow, who was murdered on Bodmin Moor on Sunday, 14 April, 1844.

This flower cut, Whilst in full bloom, Now rests in peace, Within this tomb.

Blake then went on to compile the book 'View Points and Points of View'. This is a full-colour, fully illustrated, hard-backed book, where Cornish photographer, Chris Robbins MPIAG AFIAP provided the View Points with his camerawork and Blake provided his poetic Points of View. Blake described this book as a 'phoetry book', describing phoetry as a fusion of poetry and photography. Blake first coined the word phoetry in the mid 1990's. Quotes from the BBC Report 26th February 2009: "Clive's poems have been published in 60 different book anthologies. Many people have asked him over the years to produce his own book. He wanted to do something different and so 'phoetry was born."

"The subject matter is wide and varied, and is by no means limited to Cornwall's borders. Emotions are stretched in all directions, but the Cornish dry-wit, humour and general sense of fun is never far away".

Blake has recently published a new book of verse entitled 'Clive's Uni-Verse - A Cornishman's take on life'. A wonderful read of the ordinary and the mysteries of the Universe: Childhood, Old Age and Issues on the Environment.

Works

• Blake's 'No Malice Shown' was included in 'The Owl Book' (Nature Book) by Jane Russ. Published in 2017.
• Blake's 'Pl-ease' poem was included in the 'Willard and Spackman's Occupational Therapy' book by Prof. John A. White Jnr. of Oregon University, in his chapter (chapter 21) entitled 'Disability, Community, Culture, and Identity'. This being the 13th edition of a much respected and authoritative book, first published in 1947.