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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.
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.
This research has had a significant impact on raising the profile of the Polish born composer Mieczysław Weinberg. Prior to Professor Fanning's work little was known in the West about this composer's extensive musical output and his music was rarely performed. Professor Fanning's research has enhanced public and professional awareness of the music of Weinberg, impacting on musicians, record companies, arts venues and audiences in Britain and Europe. It has led to the first ever performance cycle of his 17 string quartets as well as world premieres of his Requiem and his comic opera Lady Magnesia, alongside other performances and numerous recordings. The research has established the University of Manchester as the main repository of information and source material concerning Weinberg in the Western world.
Carol Ann Duffy has, for nearly two decades, rooted her impact and public engagement work as a poet in the Writing School at MMU. In 2009, she became the first woman ever to be appointed Poet Laureate. From the outset, she set a pattern for her laureateship as inclusive, public-facing, and clearly aimed at broadening public understanding, appreciation and access to poetry and poets. This impact is wide-ranging, providing creative and academic leadership benefiting emerging poets and new audiences for poetry, challenging and questioning political and cultural positions, and contributing to a revitalised approach to the teaching of poetry in schools.
Members of the University of Exeter's Programme for Creative Writing and Arts have translated their research-as-practice into regional, national, and international impact by introducing innovative forms of contemporary writing to a range of audiences through publications, several of which have had notable public acclaim; an events programme; and training workshops. Funded projects to develop new writing have strengthened relationships between academic and creative sectors and inspired new and successful writing careers. The main impacts of this research-as-practice have been to:
Mick Gowar's critical and creative practice has impact on culture and education within the community. His work has had, and continues to have, a significant impact on children's reading and writing, in particular introducing children to the heritage of British folklore through initiatives such as the World Wide Story Web which both preserves and presents cultural heritage. A key impact of his research is the way it has enabled adults and children, including children with special needs, to express themselves through writing and music making, thus having a positive impact on wellbeing, educational achievement and personal development.
Strandlines was designed to create a community, digital and real, for an area of central London (the Strand) where there was none. Using life writing to bring together local residents, workers, students and visitors, Strandlines has provided a website, www.strandlines.org, and activities by which people explore the meaning of place, discover its histories and exchange experiences and impressions locally, nationally and internationally. Strandlines has brought together academics, the homeless, the elderly, low income residents, local people, archivists, writers, artists and the public to foster community through a common interest in their locality, and to understand better its significance for the world.
Research at the Reid School of Music (RSM) identified the importance of music making for developing creative and social skills for children with educational and behavioural difficulties. This led to the establishment of the Botanics Project, which has provided primary school children from economically deprived areas of Edinburgh with an intense experience of music making and performing, while equipping their classroom teachers with effective techniques for animating interest in and response to the performing arts. The project has involved about 2000 children and 40 teachers, with an audience of around 500 for each event, many of whom were new visitors to the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and National Museum of Scotland.
Research by Professor Michael Finnissy at the University Southampton into the development of musical notation and works of extended duration has resulted in the composition of more than ninety new musical works, which have been publicly performed hundreds of times in classrooms, concert halls, at international music festivals and on radio, by both amateurs and professionals, to audiences totalling more than 700,000. Through concerts, recordings, public lectures and media coverage, Finnissy has disseminated his research insights and creative approach to a growing audience, contributing to popular knowledge of contemporary music and compositional practice, the democratisation of new music performance, and the involvement of new music in social and political debate.
This case study demonstrates the application of Joe Bennett's research into strategies for quantifying, observing and analysing creative processes used by songwriters. Impact has been achieved through three researcher-practitioners at the University — Bennett himself, plus Davey Ray Moor and Richard Parfitt. The research has been disseminated outside of academia through the publicly accessible workshops at the UK Songwriting Festival and Burnsong, which have received national media coverage (BBC, Sunday Times) and attracted participants from all over the world. The research has also had an impact in the commercial music industry through Bennett's forensic musicology songwriting consultancy reports, which have been used by music publishers and law courts in the settlement of songwriter copyright disputes. Summaries of the research have been presented to a non-academic music audience via international print publication (Total Guitar Magazine). Practitioners connected with the research (Moor and Parfitt) have achieved top 10 hits and international music publication for non-academic audiences.