Nottingham was awarded UNESCO status as a City of Literature in December 2015. As part of their celebrations to mark this decade milestone, Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature, the University of Nottingham and Visit Nottingham worked together on an AHRC funded research bid to bring the map to Nottingham.
As part of the project, Research Affiliate Crystal Mah-Wing was employed to help create a map, showcasing our cities best literary locations, for locals and tourists alike. We spoke to Crystal about the process, the team she worked with and what to expect when it’s out at the end of March…
Firstly, what can you tell us a bit about the format of the map?
It’s a printed guide to both the literary history and contemporary landscape of Nottinghamshire. In terms of format, it’s A3 when folded out, but it folds down into six sides. We’ll be giving thousands of them away free at various locations, including of course the places that are on it. It’s not strictly a tour guide as we’ve left it open for people to choose their own routes. We’re hopeful that they’ll be useful for both locals and tourists and that everyone might be able to learn something new from it. It also includes a reading list for anyone who wants to dive into some of the interesting literature from creatives in the city
Can you tell us about some of the key partners who helped make this happen?
Yes. The key partners are the University of Nottingham, Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature, Visit Nottinghamshire and the Arts Council. Without their support, guidance and funding we would not have been able to do this. We commissioned an illustrator from an agency called Creative Triangle, to create the artistic elements of the map. Her name is Chloë Holwill-Hunter and she has a strong background in illustration for books, particularly children's books. The work she has done has really helped bring some of it to life.
You spent quite a while at the outset consulting with various Nottingham-based community groups about this project. Can you tell us a bit about that process?
We held a series of consultation sessions and meetings to gather all the data. We spoke to dozens of different writers, creatives, local businesses and community groups and it was partly due to this that we decided to focus on print first. As you know, Nottingham is a very creative and diverse city and everyone we met was very passionate about what they do and what they write about. However, we have a wealth of data that came from the research phase, so we really want to utilise that further after this comes out. At the outset there was a lot of talk about both an interactive digital and print map, but to start with we decided to focus on the print and digital item first and foremost. However, there might also be a phase after where we can explore more interactive elements too. The map will be available in print and online, on the Visit Nottingham website.
working on this has really shown me there’s a great writing community here in Nottingham, who have a real willingness to work together and support each other. There's a passion, and enthusiasm for things to grow, develop and improve together.
What locations are we likely to see on the map?
The main part of it focuses on Nottingham city centre and there are obvious current locations that had to be on there like the amazing local bookshops, libraries and writers studios. We wanted to start with what the literary landscape looks like here right now and also reflect the different communities of writers that are here.
However we also couldn’t ignore some of the history and out-of-town locations like Newstead Abbey, the ancestral home of Lord Byron or the DH Lawrence birthplace museum. The distance between some of those locations is too big to fit on a standard geographical map, so we’ve used the borders to point our audience to go and visit those locations too and given some idea of the distance away they are.
Can you tell us a bit about your own background and how you got into this?
I work as a Research Affiliate for the University of Nottingham and I also complete freelance research. My background is in working with museum collections and on heritage and historical research based projects. I'm originally from London, where I worked at the London Museum documenting the collection there. I have completed historical research projects such as working on a children's book called TEN: Children Who Changed the World. That role was alongside the writer and actor Paterson Joseph and it features stories of ten different young activists and how they have contributed to social change and creating a better world. It’s available from bookshops like Waterstones and Page 45.
Who else has worked on the map with you that you’d like to mention?
I’d like to give a special shout out to our core team who worked on this map. Our team includes Michelle Leonforte, Communications Manager at Nottingham City of Literature, Matthew Welton, Associate Professor in Creative Writing, and Patrick Glynn, Knowledge and Exchange Impact Manager, at the University of Nottingham. Also to mention the geography department at the University of Nottingham, more specifically Gary Priestnall and Elaine Watts who contributed their insights in bridging the gap between artistic and functional cartography.
Any final take-homes from working on this project?
I came here as a bit of an outsider. I’m from London and I studied in Leicester, but I think that puts me in an interesting position to work on this and view the city as a literary tourist might do. However, I also think working on this has really shown me there’s a great writing community here in Nottingham, who have a real willingness to work together and support each other. There's a passion, and enthusiasm for things to grow, develop and improve together. I spoke to a lot of Nottingham born creatives and also a few people that weren’t from the city, but they settled here for one reason or another and Nottingham then became their home. I can see why, there is a hub of literary artistry that Nottingham truly embraces. I really hope they all enjoy what we’ve created.
The new Nottingham City of Literature maps will start to appear at various venues around Nottingham from the end of March. Visit their website for more details.
nottinghamcityofliterature.com
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