'Towards a Centre for Contemporary Poetry in the Archive', our Mellon Foundation funded project, was launched on 26 September 2022.
Our four Poets in Residence – Jay Bernard, Anthony Vahni Capildeo, Gail McConnell and Joelle Taylor – were announced in an event held at Dragon Hall in Norwich, home to the National Centre for Writing, one of our partners in the project.
They gave readings and were in conversation with Visiting Poetry Fellow Will Harris and the literary critic and academic Dr Jeremy Noel-Tod. You can access our video of the event below, which includes closed captions.
Access the launch event video
About the project
The project is a joint initiative between UEA, the National Centre for Writing and Norfolk County Council Library and Information Service. The Centre will be based within the British Archive for Contemporary Writing (BACW), part of UEA Library's Archives and Special Collections, and will promote and preserve the archives of contemporary poets of colour, LGBTQ+ poets and writers from other historically underrepresented backgrounds and practises in the UK and Ireland.
The project team consists of: Will Harris, Visiting Poetry Fellow; Dr Jeremy Noel-Tod, Principal Investigator and Justine Mann, Project Manager and Archivist. There is also an Advisory Board and a Stakeholder Consultation Group made up of members from a wide variety of institutions and disciplines both within the UK and internationally, representing poets, poetry publishers, public libraries, archives and creative and cultural engagement networks.
Symposium
On 25 May 2023, a Symposium will be held at the University of East Anglia: 'Poetry, Representation and the Archive'. Access programme and register
Video: The launch event