Thank you to everyone who participated in our 2026 Exhibition – Lavender Haze. Submissions can now be viewed here: https://www.westcoastcalligraphy.com/exhibitions/2025-exhibition-gardens-lore-and-legend/

Next year’s theme will be a little different… slightly askew, and definitely fun!

Presenting our 2027 Exhibition Theme:
Gobbledygook – obscure words of the English language.

We’re putting down the serious quills and picking up the delightfully strange. Our theme is Gobbledygook: the obscure, odd, and wonderfully wobbly words of the English language. Think flibbertigibbet, discombobulate, snollygoster, bumfuzzle, and lollygag. Words that sound like nonsense, tumble off the tongue, and absolutely deserve to be dressed up in ink.

Whether you play with flourishes, wonky baselines, or whimsical washes, we invite you to choose a word (or two, or three) and give it the calligraphic treatment it’s been waiting for. Be bold, be playful, and let your letters misbehave a little.

Pick your favourite oddity and join us for an exhibition that’s anything but ordinary.

There are a plethora of unusual and quirky words out there and we challenge you to letter one (or two for our next exhibition. You can use any hand you like, and there are no colour restrictions. Add the definition, illustrations or medieval ornamentation – it’s entirely up to you! We will share words in each of the coming Bulletins to help you choose from the dictionary of the absurd – or choose your own favourite quirky word!

Words for your consideration:

Quagswag – to shake, sway, or move in an unsteady manner

Aliferous – winged: having wings

Gruglede – feeling of both dread and joy simultaneously

Oriflamme – a symbol or rallying point that inspires passionate devotion or courage

Fellchaser – long-forgotten mistake from your past that could re-appear at any time

Hubble-bubble – A busy, chaotic commotion or noise

Allope – mysterious aura of loneliness you feel in certain places

Heartmoor – the primal longing for a home village to return to, a place that no longer exists Delectation – great pleasure or delight, often in savouring food, art or experiences

Syzygy – Alignment of three celestial bodies in a straight line – Sun, Earth and Moon

Querencia – a safe place where you feel at home and your strength is drawn

Clishmaclaver – idle chatter, gossip or trivial talk