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Joe Moran's research on the habits and spaces of everyday life in postwar Britain has deepened public understanding and promoted debate about those areas of our everyday lives that may generate little informed discussion or historical reflection because they seem mundane or routine; it has deconstructed popular memories and mythologies about daily life in the recent past; and it has promoted the value and relevance of cultural history and cultural studies to the public as a way of understanding their own lives. His work has reached a national audience through books, journalism, television and radio appearances and contributions to public events.
Bradford's exploration of the lives of modern British writers demonstrates how research can cross over into audiences beyond specialist academic markets. The impact of his research lies in:
Dr Paul Chirico's research has directly shaped the work of the John Clare Trust. Dr Chirico has played a leading role in the work of the Trust, which he founded in 2004 with a view to the purchase of the poet's birthplace in Helpston, near Peterborough. Through the John Clare Cottage and the work of the Trust on which it depends, he has since 2008 achieved direct impact on the conservation, preservation and understanding of culture. He has had an impact on education through the materials he has developed for visitors to the Cottage, both school parties and the general public.
Mass Observation has encouraged public participation in the creation of knowledge since 1937 and pioneered the dissemination of social research to a mass audience. Active collaboration between Sussex historians and the Mass Observation Archive continues to shape popular understandings of modern British social history, specifically through work with the media. This partnership has also created an Open Educational Resource through which the public can gain a hands-on understanding of the very recent past. Working with the Mass Observations Project, Sussex academics encourage `ordinary' people to write directly about their lives within a structured environment, creating historical sources for the future.
Paul Farley's book Edgelands, co-authored with Michael Symmons Roberts, has changed attitudes to landscape in both cultural and utilitarian senses. Winner of the `Foyles Best Book of Ideas' Prize for 2012, Edgelands was extensively reviewed upon publication and its capacity for changing perceptions was widely remarked upon. Beyond its print and digital dissemination, it became a broadcast topic, both as an adaptation for BBC Radio 4's Book of the Week and also as a news feature on programmes such as BBC Radio 4's The Today Programme. As well as becoming a set text on many academic reading lists, Edgelands has influenced curatorial practice in the visual arts, opinion and policymaking bodies, practical approaches to engagement with landscape and also promoted widespread debate and active awareness at the grass roots level of weblogs and online journals. The book is part of a much wider body of research and writing on cognate subjects by Farley that includes award-winning collections of poetry and high-profile radio broadcasts. However, Edgelands is focused upon here as a concrete example of how a single publication can have a significant and wide-ranging impact.
Helen Small's research into the meanings and value ascribed to old age has assisted policy consultation groups to frame their debates about the implications of an ageing society, enabling participants to reflect critically on, and move beyond, standard conventions limiting discussion of old age (such as dramatic statistical predictions from demography, or the emotional appeal of the carer's testimony). Her work has also refreshed the terms of debate about ageing within gerontology, and has set a new interdisciplinary agenda for university researchers seeking to engage with non-academics involved in the care and support of the elderly.
The Unforgotten Coat, winner of the 2012 Guardian Children's Fiction Prize and German Children's Book Award 2013, has been praised for highlighting the plight of young asylum seekers. It remains a core text for the Reader Organisation (RO) reading groups in the community and in prison. It was launched on World Book Day 2011, distributed to approximately 50,000 disenfranchised children and has been translated into several languages, receiving worldwide acclaim. The subject matter, and creative process underpinning it, fed directly into important learning initiatives and materials for schools in the North West, workshops at Liverpool's Bluecoat Arts Centre and for Merseyside's the Haven Project. The international reach of the book is reflected in its victory in the aforementioned Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis 2013 and a further nomination for the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) for the prestigious 2014 IBBY international Honours List in Mexico 2014, a nomination based on its highlighting of the lives of today's young asylum seekers.
The Military Writing Network (MWN) was founded in 2009 by Siobhan Campbell, Principal Lecturer in the Department of English Literature and Creative Writing, Kingston University London. Drawing on research by Professor Rachel Cusk, Dr. Meg Jensen and Professor Vesna Goldsworthy into the interface between testimony, trauma literature, autobiographical fiction and recovery from trauma and related disorders, the MWN created and sustains partnerships with organisations working with veteran soldiers, sailors and airmen and their families toward investigating how creative writing practice can help them cope with issues relating to combat stress, both inside and outside mental health environments.