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New Modernisms, New Audiences

Summary of the impact

Building on the University of Surrey's long history of involvement in the post-war British poetry scene, Surrey's School of English and Languages conducts research into some of the key questions surrounding contemporary poetic practice.

This research underpins the School's commitment to championing and investigating the most recent and innovative wave of contemporary British poetry: the renewed focus on a Modernist aesthetic that characterizes much of twenty-first-century verse.

The School has established a series of public events to bring this challenging and rewarding body of work to a wider audience. These events have made a significant economic contribution through their promotion of the British poetry industry, and have had a marked cultural impact on public access to and understanding of avant-garde poetry in the county of Surrey and across southeast England.

Submitting Institution

University of Surrey

Unit of Assessment

English Language and Literature

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Language, Communication and Culture: Cultural Studies, Literary Studies
History and Archaeology: Historical Studies

Poetry: Performance, Engagement and the Enrichment of Cultural Life

Summary of the impact

W.N. Herbert, Jackie Kay and Sean O'Brien have played central roles in the recent resurgence of interest in poetry as live performance and cultural event, and have been instrumental in a growing recognition of its power as a means of social engagement. Their research and writing have provided a foundation for the Newcastle Centre for the Literary Arts (NCLA), a University Research Centre directed by Linda Anderson. Through the NCLA they have been able (i) to build audiences for literature generally, and poetry in particular, at live events, online and in communities; (ii) to engage key groups, including young and older people, and to study creative writing's benefits for learning and wellbeing; (iii) to enhance the public understanding of poetry, by disseminating research, encouraging debate, and providing resources and new opportunities to encounter poetry.

Submitting Institution

Newcastle University

Unit of Assessment

English Language and Literature

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Language, Communication and Culture: Cultural Studies, Literary Studies
History and Archaeology: Historical Studies

Enhancing the availability of poetry

Summary of the impact

Through his practice-led research and active promotion of community-based poetry initiatives, the University of Reading's Peter Robinson has increased the availability of poetry at local, national and international levels. As a result of his work, poetry has been more prominently staged, explained and argued for in public forums, enhancing the cultural lives and wellbeing of individuals and communities. Economic impact has been achieved through Robinson's intervention in helping to secure the financial viability and boost the profile of a small publishing firm specialising in poetry, which in turn has improved the cultural life and self-esteem for the local community.

Submitting Institution

University of Reading

Unit of Assessment

English Language and Literature

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Language, Communication and Culture: Cultural Studies, Literary Studies
History and Archaeology: Historical Studies

Literature in Public Life: Professor Sir Andrew Motion

Summary of the impact

Professor Sir Andrew Motion works at the heart of the poetry sector in the UK and speaks for it at all levels of public discourse. His research into poetry through criticism and practice, and his tireless public engagement, lead to impacts on a wide range of users in cultural life and education, civil society, public discourses and public services. These are achieved through such positions as

  • Director and Co-Founder of The Poetry Archive (since 2003)
  • Chair of Arts Council Review Group (2009)
  • Director of Poetry by Heart (from 2012).

Widespread benefits are felt through

  • the creation and identification of cultural capital
  • influence on education and public policy (2008-13).

Submitting Institution

Royal Holloway, University of London

Unit of Assessment

English Language and Literature

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Language, Communication and Culture: Cultural Studies, Literary Studies
History and Archaeology: Historical Studies

Writing and the Small Presses

Summary of the impact

Research in writing and the small presses at the University of Salford has directly impacted upon the creation of new contexts and networks for the development and showcasing of innovative writing. It has:

  • Informed novel approaches to publishing poetry and influenced new publishing ventures;
  • Shaped new places and spaces for performance and inspired and supported new generations of poets in creating career paths in their field;
  • Diversified audiences through the creation of a lively alternative literary scene committed to experimental methodologies and defined by inclusive communities of expression and original forms of participation; and
  • Enabled the creation of an archive of performances, a unique resource for the experimental writing scene.

Submitting Institution

University of Salford

Unit of Assessment

English Language and Literature

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Language, Communication and Culture: Cultural Studies, Literary Studies
History and Archaeology: Historical Studies

Contempo: Critically informed Contemporary Poetry in the Public Domain

Summary of the impact

This case study concerns the impact of the research group `Contempo', which engages in an iterative relationship between poetry and poetry criticism. Key themes for the critical basis of this group's poetry are: life and poetry-making; historically informed poetry; ekphrastic poetry. The group has generated two types of impact a) Cultural Life and b) Education. The beneficiaries are a diverse range of audiences: 1) those attending the poetry readings of this group in person; 2) those witnessing media events (especially Radio); 3) those using social media for discussion and comment and 4) those engaging in writing classes outside of the academy, particularly A level students and adult learners.

Submitting Institution

Aberystwyth University

Unit of Assessment

English Language and Literature

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Creative Arts and Writing: Film, Television and Digital Media
Language, Communication and Culture: Cultural Studies, Literary Studies

Enhancing Understanding of Somali Poetry and Culture (Martin Orwin)

Summary of the impact

The primacy of oral poetry to Somali culture cannot be overstated: It is the primary form of cultural communication and the foremost vehicle through which Somali history, cultural values and contemporary concerns are expressed and transmitted. Through his pioneering analysis and sensitive translation into English of classical and contemporary Somali poems, Dr Martin Orwin has brought Somali poetry to the attention of Anglophone audiences, participating in web-accessible poetry projects and prominent events such as `Sonnet Sunday` and `Poetry Parnassus`. Working with Somali poets and cultural organisations, Orwin`s work has contributed to a more positive understanding of Somali culture and its place in world literature.

Submitting Institution

School of Oriental & African Studies

Unit of Assessment

Area Studies

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Language, Communication and Culture: Cultural Studies, Linguistics, Literary Studies

Linguistically Innovative Poetry: critical and practice-led research makes an important contribution to communities of practice and appreciation.

Summary of the impact

The term `linguistically innovative poetry' (LIP) encompasses a range of practices and approaches that has emerged in British poetry since the 1980s. Critical and practice-led research undertaken by Sheppard has made an important contribution to the development and vitality of communities of practice and appreciation in British alternative poetries. His work has helped readers and critics to identify, appreciate and engage with British poetry and particularly LIP. This case study is based on the critical and practice-led research projects into the potentialities of literary experiment carried out by Sheppard, work that is generally constellated around the widely-used term `linguistically innovative poetry', a term he has helped to disseminate in the critical domain and in the field of literary production.

The impact and benefit is registered through a change in literary critical perspectives regarding LIP, including the use of the term, in several cultural environments, and in a heightened sense of the potentialities for literary experiment in the field of literary production itself.

Submitting Institution

Edge Hill University

Unit of Assessment

English Language and Literature

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Language, Communication and Culture: Cultural Studies, Literary Studies

The Poetry of Tony Lopez: Contributing to the Creative and Cultural Sectors

Summary of the impact

This case study describes the work of Professor Tony Lopez and its impact on the contemporary world of poetry and the creative and cultural economy. The impact has been on the general reading public, (who have recognised the importance of Lopez's works, on the writing community itself through Lopez's influence of creative practice, and on the publishers, editors, curators, arts festival programmers, and translators who work within the creative and cultural sectors of the economy. Publication, awards won, critical reception, and consultancy positions support the claim to impact.

Submitting Institution

Plymouth University

Unit of Assessment

English Language and Literature

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Language, Communication and Culture: Cultural Studies, Literary Studies
History and Archaeology: Historical Studies

Building a platform for modern German poetry and mediating its reception by English-speakers

Summary of the impact

Professor Leeder has made a major contribution to raising the levels of cultural awareness and understanding of modern German poetry in the UK and beyond. Her research has enabled the English-speaking public to discover poetry previously unknown to them and has brought emerging poetry into the public realm. It has revived interest in forgotten writers via public engagement, commissioning and translation of new work and through Leeder's advisory work with media and cultural institutions. Leeder has influenced the programming and presentation of German poetry, engaging new media to create new audiences. Her research and translation expertise has contributed both to changing how German poetry is translated and performed by others, and to how artists respond to it in their own work.

Submitting Institution

University of Oxford

Unit of Assessment

Modern Languages and Linguistics

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Language, Communication and Culture: Cultural Studies, Literary Studies
History and Archaeology: Historical Studies

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