Impact case study database

Salisbury’s work has introduced new perspectives to discussions of historical and contemporary strict-metre verse and its practice, within Wales and on an international stage, broadening the horizons of contemporary Welsh poetry. The main impact has been twofold:

Salisbury has engaged with over 40 primary and secondary schools throughout Wales, and has delivered enrichment sessions that interpret medieval and contemporary set texts for GCSE, AS, and A Level candidates. Feedback evidences his impact both on student understanding and attainment, and on teachers’ subsequent approaches to teaching strict-metre poetry. An ‘extremely valuable’ session held in February 2020 ‘helped the students to reach their potential … and the Department to raise and sustain standards within the Welsh GCSE course’. At another school (November 2019) a teacher observed that a number of students noted their surprise at the ease with which they had been able to compose poetry ‘once they understood the basic principles of cynghanedd’ . The school now uses Eurig’s ideas when teaching poetry: ‘The workshops have offered new ways of introducing the subject that we [the teachers] hadn’t considered before’ [5.1].

The Talwrn y Beirdd Ifanc project (young people’s talwrn, January–July 2019) is at the heart of Salisbury’s engagement with schools. This ground-breaking poetry project for secondary school students is based on the traditional format of talwrn y beirdd – a unique competition in local and national guises that is part of eisteddfod culture and broadcast on BBC Radio Cymru – in which teams of poets compose short poems on a variety of metres and themes. Salisbury was the first to adapt the format for young people, designing his own project with input from his target audience. Teacher feedback describes the event as ‘inspirational’, and an ‘incredible project’, noting that participation in the project ‘changed their [students’] attitude towards poetry as a means of expression relevant to their lives’ [5.2]. Student feedback consistently refers to the transformative nature of the project for their understanding of cynghanedd and strict-metre poetry: ‘I wasn’t too keen on poetry before today but the talwrn has changed my perspective’; ‘now that I understand more about poetry, I enjoy it’; ‘[the session] has helped develop my understanding of poetry’; ‘I now respect and can better relate to poetry’; ‘[poetry] is more modern than I thought’ [5.3].

Interactive workshops prepared the students for the competition aspect of the project by putting into practice Salisbury’s research and using his bespoke techniques that focus on the basic principles of cynghanedd. The workshops resulted in collaborative work and original poetry co-produced by Salisbury and participants. Teacher feedback states that Salisbury’s introduction to cynghanedd ‘succeeded in enhancing the students’ understanding of strict-metre poetry and changed their perception of Welsh poetry’, and the workshops ‘certainly broke the stereotype that many of our students tend to hold, that poetry is boring and middle-aged’ [5.4]. Student feedback on the impact of the workshops (held in April and May 2019) states that students thereafter viewed Welsh poetry as ‘unique’ and ‘modern’, and that the session had prompted a ‘better understanding and appreciation’ of poetry, and that ‘writing poetry is fun’ [5.5]. Teachers also remarked on how Salisbury’s workshops managed to ‘change young people’s attitude towards poetry’; ‘inspired [students] to continue with writing poetry’; ‘led them to want to study poetry further … [and] equipped them with valuable skills by which to analyse poems in preparation for their GCSE exam’; and ‘offered a new dimension to our work as teachers’ [5.6].

Salisbury employed the same techniques in workshops aimed at introducing cynghanedd as an inclusive craft to primary school children in Delhi, India (December 2019 and January 2020). The workshops used Salisbury’s unique and accessible English-language introduction to cynghanedd in his co-authored collection of poetry with a long-standing collaborator. The Bhyabachyacka and Other Wild Poems represents the first time that the principles of cynghanedd have been outlined and made available in print for children in India. The organisers note how the workshops ‘made poetry accessible to people of all ages who had not thought about poetry in that way prior to the workshops … The students were inspired and wished to explore the medium further’. Using English as a bridge language facilitated the children’s use of cynghanedd in Hindi, Bangla, Marathi, Malayalam and other Indian languages: ‘They left the session having gained a much broader understanding of how words work both in their own languages and in Welsh’ [5.7].

Salisbury’s impact on public audiences and on key cultural institutions in Wales and beyond has been significant.

As co-founder of Cicio’r Bar, a quarterly event held at Aberystwyth Arts Centre since 2018, Salisbury has been instrumental in popularising poetry reading as a live, social event. This work extends to events held at independent bookshops, such as Siop y Pethe, Aberystwyth, whose owner confirmed that Salisbury’s ‘enormously valuable’ poetry sessions had facilitated ‘a much broader understanding of Welsh poetry’ amongst members of the audience [5.8]. Salisbury is regularly invited to participate in workshops supported by key agencies seeking to widen participation in literature and the arts in Wales: Literature Wales, Tŷ Newydd, Literature Across Frontiers, and Literature Exchange. The Head of Tŷ Newydd national Writing Centre identifies Salisbury’s instrumental role in the development of its intensive residential course on cynghanedd: ‘Eurig played a pivotal role in shaping the structure and content of the course – one that has developed as a result into a quiet revolution in terms of its ability to teach cynghanedd to beginners in a short space of time’ [5.9].

Salisbury disseminates his research and practice widely on Welsh-language television and radio. His outputs also reach new audiences through his website ( http://www.eurig.cymru, January 2016–) and Clera ( https://soundcloud.com/podlediad_clera, October 2016–), a unique monthly Welsh-language poetry podcast edited and co-curated with a fellow poet. Viewing statistics are on average above 350 per month and compare favourably with cultural podcasts broadcast by BBC Radio Cymru. The podcast also provided an important platform for the Talwrn y Beirdd Ifanc project, allowing the students’ work, recorded and curated by Salisbury, to reach a much broader audience.

Building on the success of Salisbury’s Talwrn y Beirdd Ifanc project, Wales’s largest youth organisation, Urdd Gobaith Cymru, launched its own Talwrn yr Ifanc in partnership with BBC Radio Cymru (November 2020). The Urdd’s National Arts Organiser noted: ‘Talwrn yr Ifanc ... was inspired by the Talwrn y Beirdd Ifanc project, and its framework was used as the basis for our own talwrn. The project demonstrated that Talwrn y Beirdd was the ideal format by which to raise awareness of Welsh poetry amongst young people ... and to give them the confidence to perform their own poems’ [5.10]. BBC Radio Cymru also commissioned a special Talwrn y Beirdd Ifanc programme coordinated by Salisbury and based on the success of his original version (March 2020), again demonstrating the impact of his research on the arts in Wales. The producer acknowledges Salisbury’s project as inspiration for the new collaboration in similar terms [5.11].

Salisbury’s activities extend the reach of Welsh-language strict-metre poetry to areas not immediately identifiable as either poetic or literary. He was appointed Dyfed-Powys Police’s first ‘force poet’ during its fiftieth anniversary year (April 2018–March 2019), and tasked with using the celebratory nature of Welsh poetry to deepen the force’s public ties. The Chief Constable of Dyfed-Powys Police acknowledged the value of Salisbury’s achievements: ‘Many had said … that they were surprised at how poetry managed to bridge between our work and the public in a way unique to Welsh culture … The work led to a broader understanding of both poetry and the work of Dyfed-Powys Police’ [5.12]. Similarly, ‘Weithie’, a Welsh-language poem co-written and performed with another renowned poet, was used by Nationwide Building Society in a key UK-wide television marketing campaign (October 2017). By broadcasting the advert without English subtitles, Nationwide wanted to underline the agency afforded by poetry as a social medium to convey the bank’s key message of loyalty and friendship. The advert, watched 3,760 times on YouTube, elicited a positive response on social media that included engagement with the advert’s poetic and linguistic form. In November 2020, the Principality Building Society (main sponsors of Cardiff’s Principality Stadium) commissioned Salisbury to write Welsh and English poems, which were read by Cerys Matthews and broadcast as part of a television and radio campaign to raise the spirits of Welsh rugby fans during the Covid-19 pandemic [5.13].

Developing and sustaining creative partnerships has been essential to the success of Salisbury’s public engagement on national and international stages. Key collaborations on projects in the Basque Country (Europa Bat-Batean 2017) and in India (Kolkata Tata Steel Kalam 2018, Jaipur Lit Fest 2018), facilitated by Literature Across Frontiers, have resulted in a broader understanding of Welsh literary culture alongside other cultures in which poetry plays a central role. Having attended one of Salisbury’s sessions in India, a renowned Kolkata-based dancer and choreographer was inspired to explore the connections between strict-metre poetry and the strict rules and conventions surrounding the traditional Indian dance form, kathak:

‘Hearing about cynghanedd was the first time I encountered an art form that concentrates on the complexities of sound, rhythm, cadence, and structure with the same focus as kathak. Working on the project together [with Salisbury], I discovered spaces of agreement and spaces of friction that challenged my (and kathak’s) assumptions of the elements that both forms use. This has been tremendously educative, enriching and inspiring.... It has opened up a fresh sense of play – one which we can share with many different kinds of participants and audiences’ [5.14].

Salisbury has also influenced the work of a celebrated English-language Indian poet and novelist, enabling her ‘to foreground the presence of Bangla in my English-language poetry in a way that I could not have hitherto imagined. This was made possible by the nature of the collaboration, that saw each word in our three languages (English, Cymraeg [Welsh], Bangla) presenting multiple opportunities for experimentation’ [5.15].

The research has raised critical awareness of new areas of the history of the Kindertransport and, in turn, has led to a more nuanced understanding of the situation of present-day child refugees in the UK. The main impact of the research has been threefold:

By organising public talks and contributing to exhibitions, Hammel has enhanced public understanding on aspects of Kindertransport history previously overlooked. She acted as lead academic advisor to a touring open-air exhibition, which started in Berlin (between August and October 2019) and continued on to Rotenburg (from April to September 2020) and Guldental (November 2020 to May 2021), and also to a similar exhibition in London (from March to June 2017). The importance and originality of Hammel’s research is evidenced by the Berlin exhibition curators’ allocation of substantial physical resources in their efforts to provide public access to the body of work. ‘It was Dr Hammel’s original research into and detailed documentation of the story of some of the Kindertransportees’, wrote the exhibition’s curator, ‘that proved to be the essential ingredient for an exhibition that succeeded in bringing new perspectives to the attention of new audiences. [It was] a successful exhibition which resonated with the public and raised awareness of a number of issues relating to the Kindertransport’ [5.1]. Further, the Director of the Gallery noted how the exhibition had succeeded ‘in reaching many people who otherwise might not have been interested or would not have gone to a museum to see it’ [5.2]. A talk by a former Kindertransportee organised by Hammel to accompany the exhibition in Berlin was considered ‘especially interesting’ and ‘very thought provoking’ with an attendee noting that they had ‘learnt about new aspects [of history]’ [5.3]. Likewise, an associated panel discussion evoked similar reactions, the organiser commenting on how ‘members of the public [now] feel the need to undertake further research regarding Kindertransportees that were part of the local history’ [5.1].

Hammel was invited to speak at an Imperial War Museum (IWM) After Hours event with Lord Alf Dubs, Sir Erich Reich and Barbara Winton in London (March 2018), which focused on narratives of the Kindertransport previously neglected, and in particular, on the history of the parents. Her contribution was described as ‘critical’ in ‘using her vast knowledge of the subject to engage the audience who were not subject experts, and to draw them into new ways of thinking about this complex history’ [5.4]. The recording of the event continues to be viewed on IWM’s website [5.5].

Hammel was also invited to write the background text for an exhibition on the work of German refugee artists at the Ben Uri Gallery and Museum, London (from March to June 2017), which positioned works of art within the wider historical context of German migration to the UK. The exhibition attracted more than 2,500 visitors and the curator noted how Hammel’s contribution had ‘proved extremely useful for visitors…. The exhibition broke new ground by showing the varied influence of different German migrants on British society’ [5.6].

A rich programme of media appearances accompanied the exhibitions and talks. Especially significant was Hammel’s contribution to two feature length radio programmes, one in Germany and one in the UK (on rbb in November 2018 and on BBC Radio Wales’s Eye on Wales in February 2018), which provided new frameworks for understanding the history of the Kindertransport [5.7].

The significance and reach of Hammel’s research is also demonstrated by her engagement with key policy debates, and in providing civil servants and NGO representatives with the historical context to contemporary challenges.

Funded by the ACE Support Hub at Public Health Wales (PHW), Hammel published a report on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and child refugees in the 1930s. The report examined the lessons of the 1930s for child refugee policy today and was launched during Refugee Week 2020 to a virtual audience of 65 people consisting of health policy advisors, civil servants, Directors of Social Services and representatives of NGOs. The Chair of PHW called the research ‘powerful’ and ‘an important use of historical research to inform policy and practice today and in the future’ [5.8]. The Director of the ACEs Support Hub at PHW also noted how:

‘[t]he historical experience of children who were child refugees in the 1930s - and especially those who were part of the Kindertransport - is a vital area of work, and provides valuable learning for our developing work on trauma informed approaches to supporting refugees and asylum seekers under the Welsh Government Nation of Sanctuary Plan’ [5.9].

In June 2020, Hammel presented the report to the Welsh Government Ministerial Task Force on Asylum Seekers and Refugees chaired by the Deputy Minister and Chief Whip, who noted how ‘[i]t is vital that we learn from the past, so that we develop trauma-informed services which support those who seek to rebuild their lives here’ [5.10]. The Director of Social Services and Housing of the Welsh Local Government Association also stated that ‘there is much we can learn [from the report] for the challenges facing UASC [unaccompanied asylum-seeking children] today’ [5.11].

Hammel also organised a key roundtable event on community sponsorship in Wales with the Home Office Wales Team (December 2017). The workshop was the first of its kind on the subject. The Head of the Home Office Wales Team noted how Hammel’s research had demonstrated the similarities between the Kindertransport and the Community Sponsorship Scheme initiated in 2016. In considering the evaluation of the scheme and the further integration of Syrian refugees ‘this session has played an important part in helping to shape our thinking in both areas’. She added that Hammel’s research had made ‘a strong contribution to … policy development’ [5.12].

Hammel was invited to give a workshop for teachers and trainee teachers at the Holocaust Educational Trust, a national government-backed charity (February 2017). Of the 26 participants at the workshop, 25 returned a feedback questionnaire and, of those, 24 stated that Hammel’s talk led them to think differently about their teaching and/or that the engagement with the research had influenced their working practices. One participant noted that the suggestion of ‘teaching the Kindertransport with current newspaper headlines makes this topic extremely relevant and important to our students’ [5.13]. Another wrote that it would ‘directly impact schemes of work in my school and provide more options of teaching the Holocaust to each year group’ [5.14].