Log in
Throughout his career, Hugh Haughton has integrated his pioneering research on modern poetry, especially the poetry of T.S. Eliot, Derek Mahon and poets of World War II, with a strong and sustained commitment to advocating its central place in cultural life. Poetry, however, requires interpretation by critic and performer to play its public role, and Haughton's own critical and interpretative work has played a part in shaping poetry's public reception by actively influencing how publishing houses, the media, a major gallery and the Department of Culture, Media and Sport represent poetry. He has also established a regular public forum for poets to read in York. In so doing, he has worked to give greater public prominence to and understanding of poetry in Britain and beyond.
The Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry promotes the cultural economies of Ireland through its impact on education and tourism; it encourages the understanding and practice of creative writing both nationally and internationally; its research has been utilised by other artists, in exhibition and performance, and in acknowledged stylistic and aesthetic influence; it provides a cultural benefit to an extensive readership and to audiences worldwide, and, specifically, in the enhancement of cultural understanding both in and concerning Northern Ireland.
This case study describes the reception and impact of Patrick Crotty's Penguin Book of Irish Poetry (2010), an unprecedentedly capacious anthology drawn from many languages and seventeen centuries of poetic composition in Ireland. The anthology presents poems in modern English and Scots alongside verse translations from Middle English, Old French, Old, Middle, Classical and Modern Irish, Latin and Old Norse. Many of the book's specially commissioned translations are by internationally renowned poets. The study considers responses to the anthology terms of its high sales, wide range of reviews, coverage by news media, and engendering of public events.
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.
Professor Richard Grayson's research on the experiences of soldiers from West Belfast in World War I is a street-by-street analysis of a type never before carried out for any part of Britain or Ireland. It shows how Nationalists and Unionists fought together in the war, giving it significance at a local level in Belfast and for wider community groups. His research has led to him to carry out community outreach to Nationalist and Unionist groups in Northern Ireland, impacted on school curricula, and garnered a large amount of media attention, reflecting its relevance to communities in both Northern Ireland and the Republic.
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.
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:
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.
Mediating the complex and rewarding pleasures of poetry to a wide audience is central to the Department of English at Queen Mary's impact on the public understanding of the medium. Poetry has very high status in conceptions of literary merit and ambition, and commands large public audiences; yet it is also seen as difficult to understand by that audience, especially in the case of contemporary poetry. At Queen Mary, research on poetry includes scholarly modes of close reading and explication, analysis of poetics, women's writing, and poetry's print culture. Drawing on this research, we have used diverse strategies to enhance public understanding of poetry, including broadcast and internet dissemination, publishing ventures, poetry readings, and public archiving of poetry recordings. This has extended to work with teachers on teaching modern poetry in schools, the location where most general readers first encounter poetry.
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.