Rare Birds: Voices of Holloway Prison
- Submitting institution
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Arts University Bournemouth, the
- Unit of assessment
- 33 - Music, Drama, Dance, Performing Arts, Film and Screen Studies
- Output identifier
- Scott_33052 Rare Birds
- Type
- A - Authored book
- DOI
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- Publisher
- Valley Press
- ISBN
- 9781912436255
- Open access status
- -
- Month of publication
- March
- Year of publication
- 2020
- URL
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- Supplementary information
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- Request cross-referral to
- -
- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
- -
- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- Yes
- Number of additional authors
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- Research group(s)
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- Proposed double-weighted
- Yes
- Double-weighted statement
- This book was the product of a sustained period of research which spanned four years and is recorded in a dedicated webpage. It used an extensive body of material, some of which was difficult to access, including original documents pertaining to Holloway Prison from the LSE Women’s Library and the London Metropolitan Archives. As evidenced in the bibliography, a substantial range of primary sources informed the creative output. This resulted in 86 original poems, each voicing an historical figure who had to be individually researched and contextualised within the collection as a whole, for an in-depth investigation of themes.
https://www.facebook.com/rarebirdsvoicesofhollowayprison/
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- ‘Rare Birds – Voices of Holloway Prison’ published in 2020 by Valley Press and supported by an Arts Council England research and development grant, creatively re-imagines the story of Holloway Prison through the voices of prisoners, staff and others, in order to explore injustices of the penal system during its first hundred years.
In addition to an extensive list of historical works referenced in the book, Scott’s chosen methodology drew on materials from prison record books, smuggled letters, wardresses’ journals and a diary written by a suffragette whilst incarcerated.
Through polyphonic poetry and dramatic monologue forms, informed by Bakhtin’s Dialogism, Eco’s Open Works, and Kristeva’s definition of intertextuality, Scott presents the stories of well-known names, including Ruth Ellis, through multiple narrators in order to dispel myths perpetuated by sensationalism.
The outcomes of the extended research project were disseminated via BBC Radio, Warwick University and LSE Women’s Library. One of the poems, ‘Colonel Barker’ was longlisted and anthologised in the Live Canon International Poetry Competition. Spoken word company Apples and Snakes, who champion ‘extraordinary artists’, commissioned a podcast in celebration of Votes 100. Scott was also invited by Baron McNally to present her work at the Houses of Parliament. Since its publication in 2020, Rare Birds has been awarded Finalist in the 2020 International Book Awards.
The groundwork for the book was supported in 2019 by Grants for the Arts, with Scott working with SimG Productions to create a musicalized adaptation of Rare Birds. Performed at Soho Theatre, London in collaboration with Director/Deviser Simon Greiff, Musical Director Michael Webborn, and a team of award-winning, internationally recognised composers and actors. Live-streamed to the public while being performed to a full capacity house, the project received a special mention in the 2020 Saboteur Awards for Best Spoken Word Show and Best Collaborative Work.
- Author contribution statement
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- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
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