In 2006, literature consultant, Sarah Butler, was awarded a Cultural Leadership Bursary from the National Association of Literature Development to explore the role writers can play in the regeneration of the UK's towns and cities. The bursary resulted in A Place For Words: a research/advocacy paper looking at three specific case studies and arguing for more connections to be made between the worlds of literature and regeneration.
Since then Sarah has successfully applied for two Grants for the Arts awards from Arts Council England to continue her research and development work in this area.
In June 2008, UrbanWords launched the A Place For Words Web site, a web resource exploring the role for writing based projects that creatively consult with communities, help to create or uncover a sense of place, and effectively communicate about urban change and renewal. Visit the site to find out more and leave your comments on the blog.
Sarah Butler has published a series of articles and papers exploring creative writing and regeneration. Please follow the links below to download pdf versions of these articles.
- The role of creative writers in the process of regeneration - an in depth article for Writing in Education, the journal of National Association of Writers in Education.
- The Words on the Street - an article for regeneration journal, New Start Mag, July 2008.
- ‘Narrating the City’ was a paper presented by Sarah Butler at Leeds Metropolitan University's seminar Playing In Urban Spaces on 3rd October 2008. ‘Narrating the City’, explores whether there is a role and a space for literature, creative writing and literary theory to inform and explore our relationship to urban space.
If you are a writer or project manager working in this field, UrbanWords would love to hear from you. Please email Sarah Butler.