Caleb Staps, Barrow in Furness (2026)

11/06/2026

A great time last night performing at an open mic hosted by Signal Film & Media and local poet Kate Davis.

This month, their open mic was hosted in Signal’s exhibition space which is currently home to REACTOR by Felicity Hammond - go and check it out if you haven’t already! 🐋

Got the chance to perform some new poems (that seemed to go down really well) plus a certain familiar poem you will have all heard already, hence the high vis 🦺

Another local poet, Michael J Hudson, did a great job hosting the evening. It’s lovely to be able to pass the torch and see these types of opportunities being offered up to other poets in my hometown.

03/06/2026

I’m thrilled with the response I’ve had so far from everyone who has attended Squawk Spoken Word over the past couple months 💙

From our sold out launch with Louise Exactly to last month’s night with Bradley Taylor - it’s been great to see so many local poets take to the stage as part of our open mic and have local audiences experience new work, meet new creatives, and discover the type of poetry I fell in love with as a teenager.

It’s been an absolute pleasure to bring Squawk to life and to watch it soar thanks to support from everyone that attends, spreads the word, and support from Arts Council England and Full Of Noises (FON) 🎤🐦

Our next poetry open mic night is on Wednesday 24th June and will be headlined by Aisha Akram - a Q***r Muslim poet who I can’t wait to bring to Barrow, only a few weeks removed from launching their debut collection 📖🏳️‍🌈

Over 50% of the tickets for the night have already sold, so please book your tickets in advance here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/squawk-spoken-word-3-with-aisha-akram-tickets-1985407321745 🎟️

Photo credit: Alex Taylor

27/05/2026

When Barrow Does Comics it’s not just Batman or the Beano… it’s so much more!

Earlier this year I was commissioned to write a poem in response to the first ever event which saw a variety of workshops, talks, and a comic book marketplace takeover Barrow Town Centre.

It was a pleasure to work with the team at Barrow BID and Lakes International Comic Art Festival - during the day I attended as much as possible with my notebook in hand capturing all the sights and sounds of the event. There’s even a couple quotes from and sprinkled in!

The final poem is a collection of all these sights and feelings from the day. Community arts events feel so important in my hometown - it was a pleasure to be a small part of the day.

30/04/2026

Last night I launched Squawk Spoken Word - a brand new poetry night in Barrow-in-Furness nesting at Piel View House in Barrow Park.

My heart is full thanks to all the kind words and support from everyone who came along to help Squawk take flight. It really means the world.

Since coming back to Barrow I’ve been so lucky and grateful to meet so many amazing creative people: poets, artists, filmmakers, photographers and more - many of which were in attendance last night. The energy in the room was incredible!

Squawk has been in the making for the past year. But, my desire to put on a poetry night has been there for over 5.

When I returned to Barrow I wondered how can I get poetry to happen here? - it turned out it already was: in backrooms of pubs, cafes after closing time, and so many other places. Squawk isn’t ‘the’ poetry night in Barrow, it’s building upon and adding to the rich cultural scene that we have.

So I thank each and every poet I’ve met over the years. You’ve all played a small part in making Squawk possible.

A huge thank you also to the team at Full of Noises (FON) for all their support and encouragement over the last few years.

Thanks to Louise Exactly for closing the night with an amazing headline performance.

Thanks to Molly Bland for designing our logo and flyers. Thanks to Serenity & Alex for volunteering on the night.

Thanks to all of you for supporting Squawk & me, Caleb Staps.

The Barrow poetry scene is strong, and Squawk is off to a flying start. We’re just getting started!

Photo credit: Alex Taylor

07/04/2026

I'm excited to share that I'm attending Barrow Does Comics - but what will I be doing there? 🧟‍♂️🦸‍♀️🦹‍♂️

As part of Barrow Does Comics, I'll be producing an artist's response - thankfully I'm not expected to illustrate anything as I can't handle a stick man at the best of times.

Instead I'll be writing a poem inspired by all the workshops, signings, and other exciting activities on the day. I hope to capture Barrow through verse thus celebrating all the festivities on the day.

If you see me, be sure to stop and say hi!

Barrow Does Comics is brought to you by Barrow BID, Lakes International Comic Art Festival and Arts Council England, taking place alongside BarrowFull's Festival of Colours on the same day.

🎨 Illustration by Lyndon White
✍ Logo Design by Furness Media

04/04/2026

After a relatively quiet start to year March was the best kind of madness!

See It To Be It 🎨🖼️🖌️
I had the pleasure of meeting the rest of the Cumbria Arts & Culture Network’s See It To Be It steering group during a visit to Eden Arts - including a live portrait by Hannah Robinson (don’t I look adorable!)

Later in the month I also spoke on behalf of Kate Parry from CACN at Arts Council England’s Creatives Connect event at Cooke’s Studio.

Poetry Events 🎤📝✍🏻
I continued hosting poetry events including a night for Signal Film & Media, one in aid of Mind in Furness at Barrow Underground Music Society, and creative writing workshops with Artworks Art4All.

I also performed at Cyan Rushton’s Poetry Open Mic Night in aid of Drop Zone Youth Crew sharing some more serious poems which was a nice change - congrats on such a great night Cyan!

Live Shows 🎭💦📦
I saw an eclectic variety of live shows including Dr John Cooper Clarke at The Coro (I seemed to know half the audience which my dad found very amusing) - also got to catch up with his support act, who I supported at Barrow Town Hall last year, Mike Garry.

I also saw Lou Barnell at Full of Noises (FON) and Unboxed by Kyra Scott & Theatre Factory at The Meeting Place.

Mainspring Arts ✨🥭💌
Hosted Mainspring Arts Springboard Neurodivergent Arts Network’s first ‘Meet & Create’ online event with Gayathiri Kamalakanthan (Buy ‘Bad Q***r’ now!)

Squawk Spoken Word 🎤🐦
All the while making more preparations for my new poetry night taking flight in April - Squawk Spoken Word. Lots of emailing, invoicing, and flyering for a now SOLD OUT show on Wednesday 29th April at Full of Noises (FON) which will be headlined by Louise Exactly.

I also celebrated my best mate’s birthday - happy birthday Mel 🥳

I’m sure April will be just as exciting for me with the launch of Squawk and some other exciting news coming soon!

01/04/2026

A Special Announcement 🦺

I am excited to share that I will be turning to a new page in my professional career by joining ABE Systems as a Solutions Analyst. I look forward to joining a highly skilled and dedicated team in the coming weeks and…

April Fools!!! 😂🤡🤪

I have got a special announcement to share but it’s a bit different to this one. Stay tuned and speak soon!

28/03/2026

I had a lovely time last night performing at a Poetry Open Mic Night in aid of Drop Zone Youth Crew. The quality of poetry and music on the night was amazing as always - it’s great to see spoken word spreading across Barrow in recent months.

I’ve got a lot of friends who have benefited or would have benefited from Drop Zone’s work when we were younger- so it was a pleasure to support such a worthy cause on Friday night.

A huge thank you to Cyan Rushton for organising and hosting the evening. I know first hand the amount of work, planning and moving parts that go towards organising any event so a huge well done to Cyan. It was nice to attend an open mic purely as a performer for the first time in a long time too.

Seeing and being able to facilitate local creatives to develop their skills has been a real highlight for me over recent years.

Cyan is certainly someone to keep an eye on in the coming years - she’ll go far I’m sure!

Drop Zone do such amazing work locally and Cyan’s words on the night about the team and how they’ve supported her and so many others captured this perfectly.

I’m thrilled to hear that the night also raised a whopping £420 towards their work.

Photo credit: Alex Taylor

24/03/2026

I had a lovely relaxed time last week hosting another poetry open mic night at Barrow Underground Music Society in aid of Mind in Furness 💙

Though quieter than usual, the range and quality of work in the room always makes the smallest of rooms feel full. A huge thank you to those who came along to perform and support. I’ve been hosting these nights for Mind for well over a year now and it’s always a pleasure to support such an important cause.

Thanks as always to Barrow Underground Music Society for inviting us to their venue and to Alex Taylor for capturing the action.

19/03/2026

Last week I had the pleasure of attending Arts Council England’s Creatives Connect event in Barrow - a great opportunity to meet fellow local creatives, learn about upcoming projects, and learn more about Arts Council England. It was great to hear from Arts Council Relationship Managers about the importance of Barrow-in-Furness as one of their priority places and their top tips for developing a project.

Though I had originally planned to be present as just an attendee, it was lovely to step in on behalf of Kate Parry from Cumbria Arts & Culture Network to talk about the work they do across the local area. I also got the chance to speak about the ‘See It To Be It’ project and my role on the advisory group.

A big thank you to Arts Council England, Cumbria Arts & Culture Network, and Signal Film & Media for hosting such a lovely event.

Photo credit: Signal Film & Media / Jennifer McMillan

Caleb Staps

11/06/2026

03/06/2026

27/05/2026

30/04/2026

07/04/2026

04/04/2026

01/04/2026

28/03/2026

24/03/2026

19/03/2026

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