Impact case study database

The research outputs and public-facing collaborations had multiple benefits for our different partners: the W.S. Graham Estate, the institutions Pier Arts Centre, National Poetry Library (NPL), and Inverclyde Council, and the many artists and communities who created work in response to our research.

1. Bringing Graham's work to new audiences

Nowell Smith's archival research ' contributed hugely to a wide celebration and critical re-evaluation of W.S. Graham’s work' during Graham's centenary, according to the Graham Estate ( 5.7). The Estate reports 'a sharp upsurge of academic interest in Graham' as a result of our research and public-facing activities, leading to 'an increase in incomes related to book sales and copyright permissions requests'. Our research and generation of interest in Graham have helped the Estate plan for 'key archival, educational and promotional activities in the future' ( 5.7). Noel-Tod's introduction to The Caught Habits of Language was reproduced in the Times Literary Supplement as cover feature for the 9 March 2018 Issue ( The Poetry Boy, Unpublished Poems by W.S. Graham), with a circulation of 38,000 readers ( 5.8).

David Nowell Smith also guest-curated two innovative multimedia displays of Graham’s archive: an exhibition at Pier Arts Centre in Stromness, Orkney, entitled Voice and Vision, and an interactive installation at the National Poetry Library, Constructing Spaces.

Voice and Vision brought Graham’s archive into dialogue with works by artists who were part of the same community as him; the gallery’s founder, [* redacted text * redacted], was a prominent collector of work by many of those artists who were Graham's closest friends, and the gallery's 'collection reflects the friendships [she] developed with artists' among Graham's community. In 2019, The Herald listed Voice and Vision as one of Scotland’s best visual arts exhibitions of the last 10 years, describing it as a ‘fascinating reappraisal of the poet as artist’ ( 5.1).

Constructing Spaces meticulously recreated Graham's writing spaces, using documentary evidence and interviews with friends. A replica Cornish cottage was built in the library, with facsimiles of Graham’s manuscript drafts pinned on walls, to imitate Graham's own practice, and a soundscape made from rare footage of Graham reading, chatting, and singing. Visitors were then invited to produce their own work, playing with and building on Graham's own compositional practices. A total of 211 pieces of work were left by visitors in the installation: poems, ink drawings, watercolours, and mixed-media productions. The original work drew strikingly on key motifs from Graham’s poems and manuscripts, but visitors also used the space for a more general contemplation, with many leaving texts dedicated to friends and loved ones, including elegies. One included a letter saying that the space offered an atmosphere for reflection ( 5.4).

The artworks and exhibitions allowed Graham to reach audiences that do not often encounter poetry. Pier Arts Centre counted 4,549 visits to the six-week exhibition (in a town of 2,200): the gallery staff also reported a notable number of ‘ visitors returning several times to study Graham’s manuscripts’ ( 5.1). A substantial majority of visitors to both exhibition and installation said that had never previously encountered Graham’s poetry, and those who had were unaware of his visual oeuvre. Audiences that had never encountered Graham before expressed the desire to read more of his work in the future ( 5.1).

[* redacted *], former head of Creative Learning at Inverclyde Council and now Arts Manager for Renfrewshire Leisure, described with enthusiasm a major impact of the collaboration: 'Graham is hardly known in his own town. The WS Graham centenary provided an opportunity to celebrate a local figure from a shipyard background that most local people would feel a strong connection to and project a strong message about Greenock outwards to poetry and art lovers across the UK and beyond' ( 5.6). Since the artworks' unveiling, they have ‘ become something of a selfie-spot' ( 5.5), a popular feature of the local landscape, where locals and visitors have had an opportunity to learn about this illustrious son of Greenock ( 5.5).

Over 1000 people visited the 'Constructing Spaces' installation on timed-entry tickets, and the accompanying video received 12,573 views online ( 5.2). It engaged particular interest in key audiences: curators, poets, artists, archivists, and school groups, and 'brought in new audience members' ( 5.2). Primary school children were particularly excited by the opportunities for typing on the typewriter, reciting poems and hearing them played back in the soundscape, and producing illuminated poems of their own ( 5.2). One story stands out: a nine-year-old girl visited with her primary school class. When, the following Monday, her teacher asked her what she'd done that weekend, she said she'd returned with her parents to Constructing Spaces and typed out a poem. 'The teacher was amazed as the child wasn't much usually committed to schoolwork and hadn't expressed interest in poetry before' ( 5.2). The project did not only generate interest in Graham but offered this girl a new form of creative expression.

2. Innovative practices of art display

The multimodal nature of Nowell Smith's archival discoveries led partner organisations to experiment with new forms of art display. The Pier Arts Centre exhibition included visual work by Graham and his artist contemporaries, audio, text, and film footage, and interactive digital displays. It was the first time Pier Arts had displayed such a range of materials, providing a framework for future experiment with 'multilayered' exhibitions that fit with the gallery's exhibition spaces ( 5.1). In particular, ‘A high resolution copy of a unique printed book, over-written and illuminated by Graham (held by the University of Victoria, Canada) was also displayed, providing page-by-page access to an exhibit that could only have been shown otherwise under glass' ( 5.1). This was the first time Pier Arts Centre had used this technology, and the successful experience on this occasion ‘has led to further digital presentations of books and other difficult to handle material in the gallery’ ( 5.1).

The NPL considered Constructing Spaces 'the most ambitious exhibition we have undertaken in the National Poetry Library space' ( 5.2). The exhibition also allowed the NPL to explore the possibilities of the venue as an exhibition space, boosted its reputation among curators and archivists nationally and enabled ‘the library to raise its profile within Southbank Centre, with colleagues in the Hayward Gallery, Learning Teams and Literature all being aware of the offer’ ( 5.2). Constructing Spaces also influenced the design of subsequent exhibitions: the 2019 Laurence Ferlinghetti display included a loan of some of his visual work, and as a result of this loan, ‘ Ferlinghetti made a gift to the library of one of his prints. Through this approach we now have a very rare Ferlinghetti work as part of the national collection of poetry’ ( 5.2). The (postponed) 2020 display of Edwin Morgan’s archive followed Constructing Spaces in being organised around the poet’s typewriter, and as ‘[ Constructing Spaces] brought to the fore how audiences were keen to understand a poet's place in a much larger creative network’, the display aimed to documented Morgan’s own networks. Similarly, ‘ As sound was such a key part of [Constructing Spaces], we were replicating this through a series of Morgan listening posts through which audiences would be able to hear the voice of the poet, and feel themselves closer to the person who had created the work’ ( 5.2).

In Greenock, our research formed the basis for a collaborative public artwork, entitled Word Roads. Overseen by Nowell Smith, with the artists [* redacted text * redacted text * redacted text *], with support from Inverclyde Council and the participation of local community arts and history volunteers, it kickstarted a new approach to public artworks: site-specific, community-oriented projects that celebrated the cultural heritage of a 'beleaguered post-industrial town' ( 5.6). Nowell Smith presented his research to the artists (21 Aug 2017), who then ran workshops in schools, building on this research (Sept-Nov 2017). Ideas from these workshops were developed in consultation with local history, arts, and creative groups (March-Sept 2018). The result was three works, made of Cornish slate and timber piles from Greenock's now-defunct Princes Pier, with lines from Graham's poems about Greenock inscribed on them. They were sited in places significant for Graham's life and work.

The Word Roads project has had extensive impacts for the cultural life of the area. The project built on Inverclyde's 2014-17 'Place Partnership' initiative, which aimed at 'culturally-driven regeneration', and has served as a template for future initiatives throughout the region. As [ *** redact*] describes it: 'The project developed an organic momentum that absorbed local artists and poets, even taking in the redevelopment of the health centre where one of the installations was planned’ ( 5.6). Artist [* redacted *] has developed public art projects and workshops utilising collaborative practices from the Graham centenary ( 5.5). In particular, he received a commission to produce a new artwork in stained glass to be sited alongside one of the Word Roads, in a new Health Centre next to where Graham was born. He ‘ was able to link the original Nightfishers group into [these] new glass pieces’, and even 'incorporated Sydney [Graham]'s words into the glass, creating a link, not initially intended, between the Words seats and the three new glass pieces’ ( 5.5).

The project left [****] a believer in the 'great synergies to be had with academic institutions', as he became ‘aware of the nexus of partners around poetry and how they might be mobilised and “festivalised”, if that’s not too ghastly a word’ ( 5.6). As a result of our collaboration, he felt ‘ inspired’ and ‘ able’ to take on the programming and development of the Paisley Book Festival and to set up new Poetry Prize (the Janet Coats Memorial Prize): the legacy of our collaboration can thus be seen in new public arts initiatives across the region ( 5.6) .

3. Developing new networks of artists, institutions, and communities

Nowell Smith's research situated Graham's work within networks of patronage and artistic exchange linked to individual localities. It was thus fitting that the practice-based research collaborations led to the creation of new art, poetry, and networks of artists, institutions, and communities.

The artists in Greenock obtained commissions on the strength of Word Road, and developed independent creative projects building on the collaboration, exhibiting these works and obtaining grants to develop these projects ( 5.5). The artist [* redacted *] writes that ‘ I was unaware of W.S. Graham before this project began. Meeting David, reading his materials and discussing ideas led me to develop my own line of research’, resulting in a successful application to the Hope Scott Trust and new contacts with the Scottish Poetry Library to pursue a new sequence of artworks about the life of Graham and his artistic communities. ( 5.5) NPL organised residencies with Poetry School graduates in the installation: poems written during the residencies were published on the Southbank Centre website ( 5.3). The poet [ redacted ] described his residency as 'a rare privilege', while another poet-resident, [* redacted text *], wrote: 'The whole thing was so tenderly reassembled that just to be there was a miracle' ( 5.3).

Both Pier Arts Centre and NPL obtained new partnerships as a result of our collaboration. Pier Arts Centre developed links with the BBC and the National Library of Scotland ( 5.1), and the new links with NLS facilitated archival displays being included in ‘ *subsequent exhibitions, including a cased display of letters, photographs and publications, celebrating the life and work of Margaret Gardiner (the founder of the Pier Arts Centre)*’ ( 5.1). Pier Arts Centre also reports that the Graham exhibition 'underscored an existing relationship with a benefactor of the organisation who lent significant material to the exhibition display. The benefactor has since decided to add additional art works to a pre-existing bequest’, thus allowing the gallery to add to its permanent collection, strengthen its profile as a home for modernist British art, and plan for future expansion ( 5.1).

The practice-based installation Constructing Spaces led the NPL to forge creative links with installation builders Art&Assembly, soundscape artist [* redacted *], and visual artists [*redacted text * redacted text * redacted text * redacted text * redacted text *], and to build new institutional partnerships with the Poetry School, the Group for Literary Archives and Manuscripts, and the publishing house Faber ( 5.2).

The collaborations also elicited creative input from the audiences themselves. Visitors to Constructing Spaces were invited to produce their own work in the installation: in addition to the 211 poems and drawings left at the installation, many other visitors took their work home with them - some even shared it on social media ( 5.2, 5.3, 5.4).

The Greenock centenary project saw ‘ local creative people coalesce in ways they had not been able or willing to do before' ( 5.6). The centenary included an exhibition of work produced by locals who had joined a new arts network named 'The Nightfishers' in homage to Graham's famous poem ( 5.5, 5.6). Since the centenary, 'Nightfishers' members 'are always the first to answer the call for participants' for new public art workshops: the network continues long after the centenary itself ( 5.5).

What started as a way of reintroducing Graham to Greenock ended up mobilising the local arts community, and its legacy can be seen in the networks of artists and publics that have flourished since the project ended. In Greenock, these networks are the first of their kind, and have brought confidence and creative opportunity to one of the most deprived areas in the UK ( 5.5, 5.6).

Underpinned by the creative and critical research of Sutton, Ashman, and Benn, the Noirwich ‘eco-system’ aims to advance the practice, pedagogy, and perception of crime writing as a serious form of literary expression capable of addressing major contemporary concerns. Growth of the eco-system through the development of innovative crime writing training and the Noirwich Crime Writing Festival, has had impacts on a new generation of writers, higher education institutions, publishers, public perception, and on the City of Norwich. Major archive donations from leading crime writers including [text removed for publication] reflect the position of UEA as a home for crime writing research established by Noirwich.

Pedagogy: Training the next generation of crime writers

Research conducted by Sutton, Ashman, and Benn underpins innovative crime writing training within and beyond UEA. There have been 794 participants in taught crime writing courses and workshops created at UEA by Noirwich, between 2014 and December 2020 (5.3). BA and MA crime writing modules have supported the appointment of three early career researchers (ECRs), plus the employment of other tutors and visiting writers, adding to the research base.

The Creative Writing MA Crime Fiction is the first standalone course of its kind in a UK university, and has been fully subscribed since it launched in 2015. The online dimension of MA teaching makes the course accessible to mature and international students and has brought its pedagogical expertise to a wide range of ages and nationalities. The UEA programme is training a new generation of highly acclaimed writers, benefitting them artistically and economically through the awarding of prizes and lucrative publishing contracts. Graduates have achieved publishing deals totalling over GBP350,000, publishing in translation across more than 25 global territories (5.3), for example:

• Harriet Tyce’s novel Blood Orange (Wildfire, 2019), ‘smart #MeToo noir’ – The Guardian; Sunday Times top 3 bestseller; nominated for Dead Good Reader Awards 2019; forthcoming in 13 publishing territories (5.4).

• Trevor Wood won the 2020 Crime Writers’ Association’s John Creasey Dagger Award, for the best crime novel by a first-time author for The Man On The Street (Quercus, 2020).

• Kate Simants won the 2019 Bath Novel Award for A Ruined Girl (Serpent’s Tail, 2020).

[text removed for publication] won the UEA Little, Brown Award for Crime Fiction in 2018 for his novel Lightseekers, which ‘masterfully explores the smouldering historical tensions underpinning modern-day Nigeria, the role of social media, and the complexities of family, friendship and belonging’, according to a review by US writer Lauren Wilkinson. Lightseekers will be published by Bloomsbury’s Raven Books in the UK and Little, Brown in the US, forthcoming in 25 publishing territories (2021). [text removed for publication] described the impact of the MA on his writing (5.5):

‘The variety of masterclasses, workshops and several assignments really helped to sharpen my understanding of self, my voice and the kind of stories I wanted to tell. This self-exploration was encouraged by the Tutors and I am very proud of the kind of writer I am becoming because of that experience’.

Pedagogy: Impact beyond UEA in universities and online

The Dundee University Crime Writing and Forensic Investigation MLitt, launched 2017 by former UEA PhD student [text removed for publication], was directly impacted upon by Noirwich (5.3):

‘The introduction of the Crime Writing Master's programme at UEA was influential and transformational ... It opened up new possibilities, and it certainly helped us here at the University of Dundee to create a business case for our MLitt in Crime Writing and Forensics. The ways in which the UEA programme articulated with cultural events such as Noirwich Festival and involved industry partners in the worlds of publishing and the media serve as a model for the modern University. At Dundee, we were keen to develop a programme that would contribute to the local economy and the region's cultural wellbeing; the UEA programme helped us to see how creative and academic practice can work together to achieve that’.

Likewise, following regular participation in Noirwich Crime Writing Festival, author [text removed for publication] developed the University of Cambridge’s MSt Crime and Thriller Writing which launched in 2019. The Noirwich eco-system also attracts prestigious research funding. Two of Sutton’s crime writing doctoral students received CHASE funding (Consortium for the Humanities and the Arts South-East England AHRC funded Doctoral Training Partnership), evidencing the scholarly acceptance of the genre by a highly competitive public funding consortium.

Outside higher education, Noirwich ECR appointment Tom Benn designed a low-cost online screenwriting course, with over 120,000 users since 2015, and building on training developed in UEA, Professor Sutton inaugurated the public Creative Writing Online Crime Fiction course with the National Centre for Writing in 2018, taking 30 students per year. This further expands the range and scale of Noirwich’s impact on the crime writing scene.

Noirwich Crime Writing Festival: Transforming perception of the genre

Noirwich Crime Writing Festival (3.6) is a vehicle for impact, co-founded by Sutton in 2014 to bring advances in practice and research to public audiences. It is organised with, and co-funded by, the National Centre for Writing (NCW), an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation. Researchers at UEA in areas such as forensic science, environmental science, law, and psychology are brought into dialogue with crime writers to provoke deeper understandings of the genre. Renowned authors like Lee Child and Yrsa Sigurðardóttir and emerging voices, including Leye Adenle, Oyinkan Braithwaite, Sara Collins, Winnie Li, and Imran Mahmood give writing, screen adaptation, and translation workshops and interviews.

The Festival has grown in size and importance since its inception, offering a key counterpoint to more commercially-oriented festivals. Publisher [text removed for publication] of Orenda Books described the importance of the festival in the crime-writing publishing calendar (5.7):

‘It was certainly on my radar right from the beginning ... We had two authors here in the first year and I have pitched every year for it. The whole relationship with UEA and the translation programme and everything else meant it seemed that was the right place for my list ... The festival is at the intelligent literary end of the spectrum ... It seems to be the ‘educated’ crime festival. I publish the literary end, a lot of debuts, half of the list is in translation, fresh voices’.

Attendance has increased by 956% (between 2014 and 2019), when it attracted 2,829 people, with visitors traveling from Germany, Switzerland, USA, Canada, Iceland and beyond. 60% of attendees surveyed between 2016 and 2019 said the Festival had brought about a change in their perception of the genre, with 49% leaving with knowledge of new authors and sub-genres. The head book buyer for Jarrolds department store said that the festival encouraged readers to branch out, meaning that ‘ year on year we make it [our stock] more diverse’ (5.7). Reflecting Sutton’s curatorial focus on how crime writing can be a means to address social problems, the most common change in perception concerns the genre’s importance ‘reflecting the state of the world’. 33% surveyed in 2017 stated ‘how essential the genre is for social commentary’ and ‘thought more about crime fiction tackling societal issues’ (5.6). The Festival also gives the public access to writing, translation, and TV/film adaptation workshops with leading practitioners, and 343 people participated in workshops between 2014 and December 2020 (5.3). In 2019, historical crime writer [text removed for publication] said that in contrast to other festivals, Noirwich is a festival for writers and aspiring writers:

‘About 60-70% of the audience in my panel were writing crime fiction – an audience of writers or aspiring writers. That is different to the audiences at festivals like say Harrogate crime festival where there are many more punters rather than writers’. (5.7)

In 2017, Arts Council England said, ‘This was an excellent festival’ and ‘for a budding writer I would highly recommend going anyway for the advice and industry insider knowledge’. (5.10)

The research-driven programming is key to these outcomes. In 2019, for instance, Ashman’s ecological focus set the agenda, and Corinne Le Quéré, world-leading Professor of Climate Change Science and Policy, led a discussion on environmental degradation and contemporary crime writing. Audience members said they ‘had never considered eco-crime as a genre before’, and that, ‘eco-crime is to be looked at more closely’ (5.6). CEO of the NCW, [text removed for publication] said of the Festival (5.7):

*‘I have a much more nuanced and sophisticated understanding of crime writing as a result of Noirwich [Festival]. I am also much more aware, particularly, of the intersections between research in academic fields and the production of crime writing ... Some of these intersections … have been well documented, but those between environmental sciences, gender studies, linguistics, development studies – are still relatively unknown (or were to me) and it’s really exciting to be a part of that’ .

Part of the Festival, and curated by Sutton, The Noirwich Lecture delivers current thinking on crime writing to the public. In 2018, Val McDermid examined gender and violence. In 2019, BBC journalist and writer George Alagiah spoke on the power of fiction to illuminate facts around post-colonial natural resource exploitation. In the wake of Black Lives Matter protests, US crime writer Attica Locke delivered the 2020 Noirwich Lecture, contributing to the global conversation on issues of race, power, prejudice, and white supremacy. The Lecture was attended by 1969 people over live stream, YouTube, and podcast, and was published in The Guardian. Attendees’ comments on the benefits of the event (5.9):

‘I have never been hugely interested in crime writing … but I was very interested in the intersection between crime and socio-political elements as explored by Attica Locke. Her lecture was stupendous and painted 'crime writing' in an entirely new - and much more appealing – light’.

‘I intend to introduce Attica's ideas to my creative writing crime fiction students (adult ed. level)’.

In 2020, organisers responded to COVID-19 by producing an event that took place entirely online. During September 2020 the online version of the Festival had 5421 attendees (via listening, streaming, online workshops), compared with 2829 in 2019. Attendance by under 45’s grew from 21% to 32% and international audiences were up from 2% to 28%. 61% of those who booked online were new to the festival. The Festival was praised for its accessibility, with those surveyed commenting that for ‘people like me on low or no income’ and ‘no childcare’, ‘online accessible events made this brilliant’. Further feedback noted that ‘writers involved in these events are more diverse and less mainstream than writers I've seen at other festivals’. It was ‘responsive to our current social situation’*, and after attending they ‘plan to read more crime by African American writers’. And, ‘I am thinking about how I can teach a seminar on crime writing’ (5.9).

Outside of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Noirwich Crime Writing Festival has brought cultural and economic activity off campus and into the heart of the city of Norwich with benefits to residents, through free events, and to local businesses, through increased trade and tourism. For example (5.8):

• An estimated additional GBP132,000 was spent by ticket holders in the city in 2019.

• The Festival has contributed GBP524,000 in visitor spend to the city’s economy since launch.

• Norfolk County Council’s reports on economic impact estimate that Noirwich brought GBP200,000 of additional visitor spend over its first three years, including at least GBP10,000 to booksellers; the overall figure increased by up to 37% year-on-year.

Archive Donations: Industry recognition and support for future writers

Noirwich has transformed the perception of crime writing by giving it a home in higher education. Writers and their estates have donated archives to UEA to support future research and practice, which now is the largest crime writing archive in a British university. In 2018, [text removed for publication], who has sold more than 100 million books and was a judge of the 2020 Booker Prize, donated his crime writing archive worth approximately USD2,000,000 to UEA’s British Archive for Contemporary Writing to support research and practice in the genre. [text removed for publication] wrote of his donation (5.1):

‘All my life I have known UEA as "the writers' university", but what has been especially gratifying is its wholehearted embrace of crime fiction as a serious and valuable form of expression. The work and research being done in my field at UEA is extensive, its teaching is high quality, and its dedicated festival is one of the best in the world. For all these reasons it was a very easy decision to put my archive in UEA's care. I hope future generations of crime writers will find some inspiration there'.

Biographer [text removed for publication], a visiting writer at the archive, accessed [text removed for publication] editorial correspondences which provided ‘unique insight into the way big publishing actually works’ for her authorised biography of [text removed for publication]. (5.2)

Transforming Professional Literary Translation

The BCLT model of translator training has transformed understanding of the translator’s role from that of linguistic technician to creative writer, leading to impacts on professional practice in the UK and across the world, the publishing industry, the public status of literary translators, and readerships for translated literature.

1. UK Impact of the BCLT Translator Training Model

2. BCLT Summer School:

Since 2015, the BCLT International Literary Translation and Creative Writing Summer School has attracted 376 attendees translating from 17 different languages, producing impacts on translation practice, professional translation careers, and publishing outcomes. It has received funding totalling GBP185,494 from the National Centre for Writing and 15 international partners ( 5.1).

In a survey of participants from between 2015 and 2019 (115 responses; 5.1), 87% stated that the Summer School had been important or very important for their literary translation work. Rossi’s research presents the creative writer as a paradigm for the professional literary translator. She has applied this understanding to a training programme at the BCLT that addresses two core requirements for a successful career in literary translation: a practice that incorporates creative writing skills, and an ability to participate in professional networks. The majority of the respondents stated that Rossi’s workshop programme had produced impact on their writing practice, enhancing their editing skills and transforming the ways that they think about creativity in translation: ‘It was a huge inspiration for me to come to understanding of translation as creative writing’, according to one ( 5.1). Rossi’s creative writing workshops enabled participants to ‘better understand’ their ‘own personal style of writing’, to allow themselves ‘greater freedom’, and to ‘think like a creative writer – something that is more and more essential to the development of the translator’s craft’ ( 5.1 & 5.2).

Participation in professional networks provides vital support for translators to promote their writing practice in the literary marketplace. The BCLT training model has led to increased confidence and a sense of professional identity, with 84% of participants stating that the Summer School had helped them to feel part of a community of translators ( 5.1). This sense of community has a continuing impact: 91% have stayed in touch with their cohort, creating what they describe as a ‘support network’ for advice, professional collaboration, and access to commissions ( 5.1). [*redacted text *], Co-Chair UK Translators Association and winner of the Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator’s Prize 2017, describes the Summer School as ‘the springboard for my career as a literary translator’ ( 5.3, p. 7).

1. Emerging Translator Mentorship Scheme:

In response to the beneficial professional impact of the community produced by the Summer School, the BCLT created a mentorship programme in 2010 to formalise support networks for translators. Managed by NCW from 2016, the Emerging Translator Mentorship Scheme pairs early career translators with professionally established practitioners. Since 2016, the scheme has overseen 35 mentorships translating from 18 languages. In a survey of mentees from between 2010 and 2020 (36 responses; 5.1), 100% said the scheme had benefitted their translation work, 97% said it had improved their confidence, and 91.6% credited the scheme with developing their professional identity while it had helped 83% to develop networks as literary translators. As a direct result of participation, 78% of mentees have had translations published or have received commissions since 2014.

The scheme was described as ‘invaluable in opening doors and being taken more seriously by bigger players’, such as agents, publishers, and cultural organisations. For one mentee, ‘The mentorship program laid the foundation of my literary translation career. I would not be a professional literary translator today without it.’ For another, ‘Three years since the programme, I have published three book-length translations and have five contracts in the pipeline, along with a portfolio of shorter translated works’ ( 5.1).

[*redacted text*] (CEO, National Centre for Writing) states that the Summer School and Mentorship Scheme are ‘national exemplars of good practice and have spawned copies from other places and institutions, including Literary Translation Summer Schools at Warwick University, City University (London) and Bristol University. The American Literary Translation Association (ALTA) has also used the model to develop provision for translators in the US’ ( 5.4). Collaboration between the BCLT and NCW on these projects has generated ‘artistic and financial benefit’ for NCW and ‘brought new work to readers and increased the diversity of the UK publishing market’ ( 5.4).

1. Publishing Outcomes and Prizes:

The Summer School and mentorships lead directly to publishing outcomes, greater visibility for literary translators, and increased representation in prize culture. Participants attribute 49 book-length translations with publishers such as Vintage, Hodder and Stoughton, Quercus, MacLehose, Arc, Scribe, and Pushkin Press to their involvement in these training schemes between 2015 and 2019. Susan Harris, editorial director of the international literary magazine Words Without Borders, states that the BCLT Summer School and translation mentorships have ‘produced dozens of qualified translators, from whom we’ve commissioned pieces in numerous languages’ ( 5.3, p. 25).

[*redacted*] (Translator, International Booker Judge 2017, former BCLT director, OBE) reports that in the past two years, four graduates of BCLT programmes have been shortlisted for the Translators Association First Translation Prize (2019 − 20), two for the U.S. National Book Awards (2020), and two for the International Booker (2019) ( 5.4). A further two were shortlisted for the Vondel Translation Prize (2020). Hahn states that ‘given the scale of the Anglophone publishing industry, the impact of BCLT […] on the translators that work in that industry is remarkable’ ( 5.4).

1. International Impact of the BCLT Translator Training Model

2. Collaboration with Cultural Organisations:

Since 2015, the BCLT has extended the international reach of its programme, addressing the lack of specialist literary translator training in countries that are underrepresented in the global literary market. Cultural institutes in Japan, Korea, Argentina, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia have drawn on BCLT expertise to discover new translators, improve translation quality, and create networks, building capacity for the more extensive production of translation ( 5.5). They have funded translation workshops at the Summer School, placed translators in the ‘Training the Trainer’ workshops, which Rossi organised from 2018 to disseminate the BCLT model of literary translator training, and have held events in their home countries under the BCLT’s guidance ( 5.5 & 5.6). Since 2014, the BCLT has also held further training events in China, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Brazil, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Georgia, Germany, and Mexico.

These collaborations have had a direct impact on the creation of translation infrastructure outside the UK. [*redacted text*] states that when she first attended the BCLT Summer School in 2011, ‘In Argentina or Latin America there was no further training of any sort for literary translators’ ( 5.3, p. 12). She organised the Lenguas Vivas / AATI Autumn School of Literary Translation in Buenos Aires in 2015, based on ‘the core of the BCLT Summer School’ ( 5.3, p. 13), which has led in turn to the creation of a Literary Translation and Translator’s Copyright Committee, which protects translators’ rights, promotes their visibility, and offers further training and networking opportunities (5.5). [*redacted*] invited Rossi to run workshops on the translation of cultural memory between 2017 and 2019 in order to bring Rossi’s ‘input into crafting literary translation as creative writing’ to the Autumn School’s programme ( 5.3, p. 13). According to [*redacted*], the BCLT ‘has had an impact not only on the literary translator’s own practice, but also in the way translation is taught in Argentina’ ( 5.5).

According to [*redacted text*] (International Network Team, Nippon Foundation), collaboration with the BCLT has created ‘a positive stimulus to the existing system of the translated publication industry in Japan’ ( 5.5). Cultural organisations have named 17 publications that have arisen from their work with the BCLT, involving highly regarded publishers that include Granta, Pushkin Press, Norvik Press, and Vagabond Voices. These publications offer a vital means of delivering their mission to increase international recognition of their respective cultures ( 5.5).

1. Creativity in the European Framework for Literary Translator Training - PETRA-E:

The focus of Rossi’s training model on translator creativity has been incorporated in the European PETRA-E framework for the education and training of literary translators, produced by a consortium of eight European institutions in 2016 and funded under Erasmus+ ( 5.7). PETRA-E draws together diverse academic and non-academic approaches to translation teaching, providing a systematic map for use by instructors and practitioners of the knowledge, skills and attitudes that make up the competences required by the literary translator at different stages of her career. The consortium sought Rossi’s expertise as both academic researcher and organiser of the BCLT’s training programme, her presentations in Budapest (16 − 17 October 2015) and Antwerp (21 January 2016) establishing ‘literary creativity’ as one of the framework’s key competences, defined as the ‘ability to find solutions and make choices beyond learned procedures and methods’ ( 5.7).

Peter Constantine (Director of the Program in Literary Translation, University of Connecticut) credits the framework as an innovative measure ‘to professionalize literary translation pedagogy’ that is yet to be matched in the United States ( 5.9). The framework has been adopted by 20 organisations worldwide, shaping international translation practice. Initiatives at the University of Salamanca to test the framework’s applicability found that students valued creativity as an important competence, which provided a means of approaching and assessing the translation of complex literary effects ( 5.8, p. 40; pp. 91-2). [*redacted text*] (Ussher Assistant Professor in Literary Translation) states that the framework was the inspiration for his re-working of the MPhil in Translation at Trinity College Dublin, which led to the award of GradIreland’s Postgraduate Course of the Year for Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, 2020 ( 5.4). [*redact*] has ensured that ‘creativity runs throughout the course’, an emphasis on Rossi’s contribution to the framework that has encouraged translation companies, publishing companies, and translation-related agencies to work with his students ( 5.4).

The Landscape of Translated Literature Transformed

The BCLT’s programmes have generated far-reaching impact on the production, recognition, and reception of translated literature. Research commissioned by the Man Booker International Prize found that UK sales of translated fiction grew by 5.5% to a total value of GBP20,700,000 in 2018. Citing this research, [*redacted text*] (Editor at Large: Fiction, MacLehose Press, OBE), states that ‘BCLT has played its part in both creating a desire to read more widely and supplying the translators who enable it’. ‘As a result of BCLT’s work’, he concludes, ‘I would confidently say that the quantity and quality of translators in the UK has increased significantly in the last 20 years, and further that by empowering translators, who go on to champion their enthusiasms […] BCLT has contributed to the recent strong interest among British readers for translated fiction’ ( 5.4).

One of the most visible public manifestations of this increased interest is the Man Booker International Prize, which is shared equally between writer and translator. [ *redacted* ] (Booker International Prize Judge 2021, former UEA Reader) affirms that ‘the BCLT was - as the administrators of the Booker International acknowledge - one of the important stakeholders in the foundation of the prize’ and that ‘the status of translators has risen accordingly’ ( 5.4).

For [*redacted text*], the BCLT has played a decisive role in the recent growth of the translation industry, leading to increased public recognition of literary translators as a professional body: ‘The landscape of translated literature and the translation profession have been greatly transformed in recent years – publishers are publishing more translations, translated books are selling better, and, most dramatically to my mind, translators themselves have become more professionalised, better trained, more visible and more seriously appreciated.’ [***] concludes that ‘every part of these changes has been at least partly a result of things that have happened at BCLT’ ( 5.4).

The Problem: Finding Value in Norwich’s Neglected Learned Books. Norfolk Heritage Centre (NHC), part of the Norfolk Library and Information Service (NLIS), holds a collection of c.2000 early modern learned printed books, with origins in the Norwich City Library, the first provincial civic library outside London, founded in 1608. Despite the significance of this collection, the NHC’s former librarian testifies that, before 2015, ‘[t]he Renaissance books in the NHC were used very rarely', and even then, only through ‘ very occasional requests from researchers and academics who knew of their existence’ ( 5.1). This collection is difficult to interpret for non-specialist audiences. Its books are not Shakespeare’s First Folio or other literary masterpieces famous today. Instead, they are the works of early modern scholarship, tailored to clergymen, written mostly in Latin. Realising that Roebuck’s research into these kinds of learned books held the key to revivifying this collection, in 2015 UEA academics (supported by UEA’s entire literature Medieval and Early-Modern Research Group, including post-docs, PGR, and even PGT students) founded the Unlocking the Archive (UTA) project. They created a template of activities to interpret this collection for the public for the first time, at the heart of which were live, hands-on, drop-in, ‘book discovery days’, where members of the public could turn the pages of these learned books and discover their stories.

A ‘ fundamental transformation’: Putting Learned Books at the Heart of Norfolk’s Community and NLIS’s Mission. Events held between 2015 and 2019 were attended by c.750 people – ' record numbers', as NHC's librarian testified ( 5.1). In 2019, NLIS invited UTA to bring its template of activities to King’s Lynn Public Library (KLPL, in the deprived region of West Norfolk), home to another neglected collection of c.2000 learned books, with deep historic roots in the town. This saw another 200 people encounter King’s Lynn’s books. The 399 feedback forms collected across 3 events at NHC and KLPL between 2017 and 2019 (i.e. 57% of these events’ overall attendees) record that 90% of visitors had never seen these historic books before ( 5.2). They prompted changes in people’s perception of their own region’s history. The owner of one of Norwich’s most popular bookshops, for instance, felt that the learned books had ‘ shown that the Renaissance culture of Norwich is every bit as good as that of e.g. Florence’; another visitor confessed themselves ‘ surprised at the treasures King's Lynn possesses’ ( 5.2). For the manager of KLPL, [*redacted*], what was ‘ even more special’ than seeing new library visitors travel long distances was ‘ to see some of our regular vulnerable customers join in and take an interest in the books’. ‘ These included a homeless gentleman who first of all said he wasn’t interested as he couldn’t read, but begrudgingly went over to look; he then came and told me that he thought they were awesome and revealed he could read Latin’, as his father was of Roma heritage. [*redact*] concludes that ‘ it felt like we had really engaged the community and inspired people to want to learn more’ ( 5.1).

While NLIS’s users are the first of this project’s key beneficiaries, even deeper and longer-lasting benefits have been felt by the institution and its staff. At a time of funding cuts, the UTA project has allowed the library to achieve its central missions. Events have broadened the library’s user base: e.g. of the 250 people who attended the 2019 event at NHC, 37% had never visited NHC and a further 30% were not regular visitors ( 5.2). Together with public events, training workshops that communicated Roebuck’s research insights to the library’s staff have catalysed professional development, enabling the previously unused rare books to be integrated throughout the library’s work. For instance, Community Librarian for Local Studies, [*redacted text** ], and Archive Specialist, [*redacted*], were then able for the first time to place the rare book collection at the heart of their work to inspire younger audiences, for instance by building one year’s worth of activities around the books for a group of twelve children aged between 11 and 14 (the ‘History Hunters’). ‘ I consider myself profoundly fortunate to have had the opportunity of being involved with UTA’, [****] explained, ‘ The enhancement of my professional development that has resulted has enabled me to develop engagement activities that would otherwise simply not have happened’. As well as the ‘History Hunters’ group, these include ‘ public events based on the UTA model hosted at NHC in 2018 and 2020, each of which saw over a hundred people, including families and young people, engaging with the early modern books, but also encompass staff training and further public events such as ‘Heritage Sunday’ family events, numerous school and college group visits’, and reminiscence activities for older adults. In summary, the NLIS testifies that Roebuck’s research insights have led to a ‘ fundamental transformation of the way we use our rare book collections’ ( 5.1).

A ‘ new way’ of Presenting Learned Books in National Trust Libraries. With the reputation of UTA’s work in the region growing, National Trust’s (NT) Blickling Estate became the project’s next key beneficiary, when it invited UTA to bring its template of activities to its library in 2018. Despite being home to NT’s largest and most significant library (c.12,500 volumes), Blickling faced similar or even greater challenges to those of the NLIS. It is another difficult learned library, with many books of antiquarianism and ecclesiastical scholarship. Moreover, as [*redact*], National Curator, Libraries, National Trust, explains, ‘ access to and interpretation of books has, in the past, proved one of our greatest challenges’ in the Trust ( 5.3). Despite ongoing vital work to catalogue Blickling’s library, the books remained hard to integrate into daily visitor experience of the property – a vital aim for Blickling. Between 2018 and 2019, around 1250 people attended UTA activities, and 100% of 111 pieces of evaluative feedback gathered in 2018 were positive, with one visitor, for instance, commenting that they felt ‘ privileged to be able to see and touch these amazing books’ ( 5.4). The most lasting and significant benefit, however, has come to Blickling as an institution, its staff and volunteers. Between 2019 and 2020, UTA trained 36 of Blickling’s volunteers and staff members in the fundamentals of Roebuck’s research in the learned book through a mixture of in-person sessions and online resources (e.g. a video, ‘Did Anyone Read These Books?’, distilling the essence of Roebuck’s research insights). This gave volunteers new ‘ knowledge’ and ‘ confidence’ with which to interpret the books for the public ( 5.4). As well as using their new learning in their day-to-day role as house guides, volunteers were able to lead their own unique ‘book discovery day’ (October 2019), presenting the books to 450 visitors. Blickling’s General Manager, [*redacted text*], describes how this project has transformed Blickling’s practice: ‘ Roebuck's research has helped revolutionise the way our supporters engage with our library. We have moved from essentially minimal engagement with a handful of volumes […] to a structured and connected series of experiences’, contributing to Blickling’s visitor ‘learning’ score achieving 5.7% higher than the NT average (5.4). [*redact*] explains the significance of this partnership for Blickling and NT: ‘ It is only with the involvement of the UtA project that we have been able to start working with the collection in a new way that truly befits its importance’. ‘ The project has been noticed across the Trust’, he states, ‘and it has revealed to many the worth of our books and their potential to help tell the stories of our properties and inspire our visitors’. In the post-COVID-19 era, he concludes, ‘ There is great potential and willing to replicate the Blickling project at other Trust properties’ ( 5.3), e.g. Felbrigg Hall, Norfolk, where UTA’s template of activities was scheduled to have taken place in 2020 (put on hold by COVID-19).

A ‘ new resource of inspiration’: Norfolk’s Learned Books Influencing Design Practice and Creating Business Opportunities. In 2015, Norwich graphic designer [*redacted text*] was hired to design a visual identity for UTA and became inspired by Roebuck’s research into the learned book. This led him to organise a project, ‘New Impressions: Redesigning Norwich’s Renaissance Books’ (2017), in which 16 Norfolk-based graphic designers took part in a hands-on workshop about NHC’s learned books led by Roebuck. This influenced their creative practice, when they produced prints based on what they discovered, with the books becoming, as he explained, ‘ a new resource of inspiration which breaks with the usual modernist influences’. This project offered a unique opportunity for commercial design professionals, usually in competition, to come together as a community. One designer, [*redacted text*], described the benefit of ‘ *meeting local designers, who I’ve long since known of * […] but never actually met face to face − it was meeting them, seeing how they worked, seeing what they produced, that was the most incredible, enriching experience for me’. The resulting exhibitions at NHC and Norwich School’s Crypt Gallery, seen by c.700 visitors, showcased Norwich’s design community. ‘New Impressions’ prints were peer-reviewed and judged to be of a ‘very high standard’ by leading industry professional, [*redacted *], founding partner of design agency North (responsible for the Tate Modern branding). [*redacted text*] confirms that this project brought him new business opportunities as it both ‘ increased my industry profile and led to new heritage project commissions’, while ‘ the paper company Fedrigoni UK − a sponsor of New Impressions – invited me to contribute to their publications’, a major indicator of prestige in the design industry. Other designers have testified to ongoing influence on their practice, including [*redacted text*], who designed a visual identity for Trust New Art projects at Blickling. By drawing inspiration directly from Blickling’s books to shape his final design, he commented that he was ‘ continuing what we started with “New Impressions”’. [*redacted text*], Crypt Gallery Curator, explains that ‘New Impressions’, as the first ever graphic design show at the Gallery, ‘ demonstrated audience appetite’ for such shows, ‘ making it possible’ for the Crypt to commission its hugely successful graphic design exhibition, Share (2019), which showcased ‘ 5 internationally-renowned design agencies’ (including North) for the first time since some of them exhibited at the Barbican Gallery in 2004. ‘[I]t was extraordinary for the Crypt Gallery to be able to bring together design work of that calibre in our region’, [*redacted*] concludes ( 5.5).

Using Norfolk’s Manuscripts to ‘ enhance and invigorate’ Teaching in Key Norwich Schools. While Norfolk’s heritage institutions and creative industries were benefiting from Roebuck’s research on learned printed books, Woodcock was extending the scope of the UTA project by using his research on Norfolk’s archival documents to shape curriculum development in Norwich’s schools (2018-20). In collaboration with [*redacted text*], founder of Curious Spark Ltd – a company which works with schools and communities to develop cultural heritage projects – alongside the Forum Trust, Woodcock developed an educational pack, 'Putting on a Pageant' (PoP). This allows primary school children to explore the records of Elizabeth I's 1578 visit to Norwich ( 3.2) in an accessible and exciting format, providing a new resource to teach core subjects and skills in National Curriculum Key Stages 1 and 2. The pack was launched at Charles Darwin Primary, a new school which had been opened only in September 2016 with an above-regional-average percentage of students on free school meals. PoP helped this new school situate themselves within Norwich’s heritage by giving them ‘ something to hook their local history curriculum on to’, as [*redact*] explains. The teachers ‘ loved the story’ of Elizabeth’s progress, she goes on, and immediately ‘ saw the potential of the visual and dramatic nature of getting children’s imaginations going’. The pack was then rolled out to c.100 Year 4 students at Avenue Junior School, enabling teachers to synthesise teaching of local history and literacy. Teachers testified to the ‘ immersive’ value of using drama to ‘ enhance and invigorate our existing English teaching’ at this more established school, while a workshop based on PoP for all the teachers and teaching assistants at the school ‘ gave them a lot of confidence’ as they developed ‘ this unique, new way of teaching two subjects’ ( 5.6).

‘ UTA is leading the way’: Building Digital Resilience during COVID-19. Before COVID-19, the national significance of UTA's project had been recognised. Its collaboration with NLIS was highlighted in Arts Council research as one of three leading exemplars of collaboration between universities and public libraries nationally ( 5.7), as a result of which UTA was asked to share its ‘ learning with a wider public library audience' at a Carnegie UK Trust 'Engaging Libraries' event (November 2019). When COVID-19 paused all in-person activities at its partner institutions, UTA launched a new digital resource, ‘Discover Historic Books’, using Roebuck’s research insights to present key learned books from each partner’s collection to the public with a uniquely immersive user interface. The website had 8000 visits from c.5600 individuals globally from July to December 2020 and was the subject of Fine Books & Collections’ most-read article in 2020, with over 20,000 readers ( 5.8). It led to a new partnership with Northumberland Libraries and Archives (Northumberland County Council), highlights of whose 18th- and 19th-century books were added to the site in December 2020 ( 5.9), confirming the NLIS’s prediction that the UTA project ‘ has laid a template for other public libraries in the country to follow’ ( 5.1). NLIS stated that the site allowed them to ‘ increase digital adaptability and resilience’ and keep connected to their users during COVID-19, e.g. through digital events for Heritage Open Days 2020 ( 5.1). ‘At a time when the entire cultural/heritage sector is desperately seeking virtual avenues to best share information and collections with the research community and general public’, the National Curator of NT’s Libraries concluded, ‘ UTA is leading the way’ ( 5.3).