Dear all,
I am writing to see if anyone would like to get involved with a new project (I am crowd-funding the first stage) called Colonial Countryside. I have been working on this topic for a while now, as have my colleagues at the Centre for Hate Studies, which has done quite a bit of work on rural racism.
Colonial Countryside is a child-led history and writing project. We have 10 country houses, 10 schools, 10 writers and 10 historians on board. The project includes a children's conference at the University of Leicester, with panels and keynotes but only children speaking. Kids ask different questions of archival material and it's hoped that these 10 groups of 10 year olds will draw in their teachers and parents while also encouraging the children to think of themselves as future advocates for the British countryside's colonial histories. The conference will coincide with our Literary Leicester festival. The children's short personal essays (crafted in workshops with a writer's help) will be communicated to live and digital audiences too.
Our project partners include Peepal Tree Press, which will commission and publish new writing on the topic.
If you have suggestions or relevant experience, please contact me at [log in to unmask] You will be very welcome to join us.
If you'd like to support the project practically, the crowd funding link is just below. The purpose of crowd funding this first phase is to demonstrate to the National Trust, Arts Council and HLF that people want and need a project like this. The link is:
https://www.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/uniofleicester/colonial-countryside#charityBio
All best wishes
Corinne Fowler
Dr. Corinne Fowler,
Director of the Centre for New Writing
Research Environment Director of the College of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities
University of Leicester
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