landscape and literature
Univeristy of Exeter press release 11.12.2006
The Cornish landscape that has inspired such writers as Daphne du Maurier and Sir John Betjeman is the subject of a new research project by University of Exeter academics. Lecturers in Geography and English at the University's Cornwall campus are uniting to investigate the relationship between landscape and literature in a Cornish context. The project will bring in £12,000 of funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
An innovative workshop series in May and June 2007 will bring together school children and local poetry groups with scholars and project partners Truro College and Sense of Place. Indoor and outdoor creative writing workshops are planned for writers ranging from college students to published poets. Local schoolchildren will have a day out exploring and writing about the local landscape.
This will feed in to the research's exploration of theories of landscape, looking at the relationship between the process of writing and the inspiration of the surrounding areas.
Dr Adeline Johns-Putra, Director of English, explains: "Cornwall's unique landscape and literary heritage provide an ideal space for our research. This project is significant as it involves the local and cultural communities in Cornwall in academic research. We hope to initiate long-term research around the idea of place and creativity based at the Cornwall campus".
Dr Adeline Johns -Putra is collaborating with Professor Catherine Brace, Director of Geography on the year-long project. An international academic conference, 'Text Landscape Identity' will be held at the Cornwall Campus near Falmouth in September 2007.
The £100 million Tremough campus is a Combined Universities in Cornwall initiative of which the University of Exeter and University College Falmouth are two of the founding partners. It is funded mainly by the European Union (Objective One), the South West Regional Development Agency, and the Higher Education Funding Council for England, with support from Cornwall County Council. Set in 70 acres of countryside, but close to the waterside towns of Penryn and Falmouth, the campus offers a lively student community. The University of Exeter is expanding its courses available to include Politics, Law and History to existing degrees in Mining Engineering, Geology, Biology, Geography, English and Renewable Energy.