Were the Victorians really so different from ourselves? In this series of three creative writing workshops, led by Michelle Crowther, we will be looking at Conway Hall’s nineteenth century pamphlet collection and putting ourselves in the shoes of radical pamphleteers such as Annie Besant, Ernestine Rose, Thomas Paine and Richard Carlile. Sharing their thoughts on topics such as women’s rights, freedom of the press, contraception and suffrage, we will inhabit their lives, creating poetry, short stories and blog posts to form an online exhibition. By weaving in our personal responses and using modern day parallels, we will breathe new life and significance into these controversial pamphlets, updating and reinvigorating them for the twenty-first century. This event is part of the Heritage Lottery funded project Victorian Bloggers.
Michelle Crowther specialises in biographical and historical writing and is passionate about the nineteenth century. She is a sessional lecturer on the community adult education programme at Canterbury Christ Church University where she teaches about using old newspapers, letters and diaries as sources for creative inspiration.
Please note
We are committed to promoting inclusive practice at Conway Hall. Due to the constraints of our building, the Library is not currently accessible to wheelchair users or those with limited mobility but we are happy to discuss with you how we can make the contents and materials accessible to you. We carefully monitor which events are held in the Library, and will use your comments to enable us to develop ways to ensure that everyone should be able to attend events in the future.