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The Centre for Robert Burns Studies at the University of Glasgow has played a major role in raising public awareness and enhancing understanding of the work, global reputation and iconic status of Scotland's national poet, Robert Burns. This has been achieved by (i) forging Scotland-wide links between university, local authority and national collections of Burns-related material, making readily available the full extent of the country's rich holdings in this area for the first time; (ii) increasing and encouraging global awareness of and access to Burns's work through events, online resources and the use of social and traditional media; and (iii) convening an international network of Burns organisations and events. The Centre's exhibitions and performances have attracted upwards of 200,000 visitors and participants in the REF period.
James Hogg (1770-1835) is an important but hitherto little known nineteenth-century Scottish author and songwriter. In recent years, Stirling research has demonstrably expanded the audience for Hogg's songs and poetry in Scotland, the wider UK, and USA. Contemporary writers and artists have become more engaged with Hogg's work, and among the public this research has generated greater appreciation of the Scottish literary and music tradition in particular, while promoting Scottish cultural heritage in general, at home, and around the world.
Editorial and biographical research on the work of Virginia Woolf, carried out primarily by Susan Sellers, fed directly into the composition of Vanessa and Virginia, a novel by Sellers about Woolf's relationship with her sister. In 2008 Vanessa and Virginia was published by a small independent publisher set up in 2006 in the north-west Highlands of Scotland. It became the press's most commercially successful publication and ensured its early economic viability. The novel was subsequently published in North America and translated into more than a dozen languages. It was also turned into a successful, inter-nationally-staged play. This case study therefore claims several types of impact: (1) exporting the cultural heritage of the UK and stimulating international public interest in Woolf; (2) generating economic prosperity for a small entrepreneurial business in a remote part of Scotland, and for the creative industries (theatre and international publishing) more widely; (3) inspiring and facilitating the work of other cultural practitioners; (4) enriching cultural life in the UK and abroad. The users of this research are: the directors of an independent publishing company; translators and international publishing houses; the director, producer and actors of a touring theatre company; the reading and theatre-going public.
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.
St Andrews has, for several decades, been a centre of critical and editing work on medieval poetry, which has enabled unusually broad cultural dissemination, facilitating for example, Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf. Working within this tradition, Chris Jones' research on the uses of Old English in contemporary poetry, in conjunction with colleague Jacob Polley's practice-led research in the form of medieval-inspired poetry has (1) raised public awareness of an historically remote and linguistically difficult area of English literary heritage often thought to be obscure or inaccessible; (2) inspired new forms of interdisciplinary artistic expression; (3) contributed to economic prosperity in the creative sector. The users of the research outlined in this case study include: a publishing company; a museum visitor centre; a visual artist and other craftspeople and designers; an independent literary festival; the reading, listening and museum-going public.
This case study traces the impact on cross-cultural links between Scotland and Japan of The Pure Land, a historical novel by Alan Spence based on the life of Thomas Glover, a merchant from Aberdeen who emigrated to Japan in the mid-19th century. Glover was an influential figure in the development of modern industrial Japan, and was instrumental in the founding of Mitsubishi. A revered figure in Japan, he was less well known in his own country. Publication of The Pure Land in 2006 transformed this, generating global interest in Glover and highlighting previously unrecognised affinities between Eastern (particularly Japanese) and Western (particularly Scottish) cultures. As well as inspiring a new biography, newspaper articles and radio programmes, and various educational initiatives, Spence's novel has enhanced cultural ties between Scotland and Japan, and extended public understanding of the history of globalisation. Other works by Spence on Scottish-Japanese themes have extended this influence.
The Department has worked proactively to bring creative writing out from the institutional sphere and into the public domain. While creative writing is often perceived as a niche activity largely confined to university writing programmes, Warwick's writers have broken new ground with their approach that writing can take all forms, that creativity is open to everyone, and that writing has the power to intervene meaningfully in the world. This commitment is demonstrated through a range of activities that include active involvement in campaigns for the freedom of expression, the foundation of distinctive literary prizes, widespread communication of interactive material through social media, and the establishment of new publishing houses and literary magazines.
This case study describes creative educational work carried out by Dr Abigail Williams in collaboration with professional musicians to bring alive the details of 18th century popular culture found in poetic and musical miscellanies. Williams selected from the c.1400 surviving miscellanies to create site specific performances in UK historic and museum venues. She has worked with museums, schools and radio to develop curatorial resources for presenting book-based cultural-historical evidence not easily appreciated via the standard museum or library display of written texts. Her research data also brought knowledge exchange benefits to a Canada-based computer technology business.
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.
Based on a common research interest in the collaborative poetic of the New York School, and a commitment to the public value of poetry, University of Kent poets have created a poetry scene of national and international significance. Together they founded the innovative poetry festival Sounds New Poetry, which led to the award-winning performance series Free Range. Sounds New Poetry's significance lies in its creation and intellectual enrichment of new audiences for poetry and its advancement of the creative practice of major musicians and poets through cross-media collaborations. Building on the achievement of Sounds New Poetry, the Arts Council-funded Wise Words enabled PGCE students to take contemporary poetry to `out of mainstream' groups. The programme extended the reach of the festival by changing pedagogy within regional PGCE practice and enriching the experience of users from a range of community education groups.