I want everyone to ‘use’ and enjoy science of all sorts in their creative work. It’s led us along some very enjoyable and often surprising routes!

 

Saltmarshes: creative writing days. For several years I’ve met with writers – aspiring and practising – at RSPB Campfield reserve on the Upper Solway, where we can get together and explore the marsh/merse, and then retreat to a nice warm room to think about the marsh, and eat our lunch and cake. There are as many different views about the marsh as there are writers, and we all learn from each other. There’s a short piece about some of the things we saw and talked about during the 2022 writing day on my Solway Shorewalker blog here.

tEXtPERIMENT, 2005. A project with NW Playwrights and Stefan Escreet, Artistic Director at Theatre by the Lake, Keswick, on using science and scientists in drama; with Caryl Churchill’s play A Number (a powerful play about human cloning, which was running at the Theatre by the Lake at that time)) as a starting-point

 

Footprints in the Sand, 2005.

CARA/Cape Creative Partnerships Award, with Stephen Burrowes, Head of Science, at Settlebeck School; using creative writing and audio work to explore ‘the science of the sea-shore’ (at Allonby) with 12-14 year-olds. (The boys are exploring thixotropy – the phase change between sand grains and water, causing the sand to ‘puddle’ then set. They were, of course, asked not to wear trainers for their trip to the shore!)

 

SciArt 2000, Wellcome Trust competition.
Short-listed. Joint project with the sculptor and artist Rebecca Nassauer: Games of Chance: the Parasite’s Roulette Wheel

The drawing is of tapeworm ‘banners’ that would hang fom the ceiling of the exhibition space; the glass maquette depicts the larvae of the sheep liver fluke, growing and multipying.

 

 

 

Words & Pictures: explaining science conferences.
1998. Initiated, convened and organised the first Words and Pictures Explaining Science conference, Wolfson College, Oxford; aimed at showing writers, artists and scientists how to collaborate (sponsored by Wellcome Trust, Pfizer, Oxford Trust) Speakers included Prof. John Carey, Prof Ian Stewart, Tim Hunkin, Prof. Susan Greenfield, Dr Georgina Ferry, the Art Editor from New Scientist, and representatives of the Arts Catalyst, Wellcome Trust and the Gulbenkian Foundation.

2003 Second Words & Pictures conference, Cumbria Institute of the Arts, Carlisle (sponsored by Wellcome, Pfizer, Biochemical Society, Cumbria CC); showing scientists the language and images of art. Speakers included Sian Ede (Gulbenkian Foundation), Dr Tom Shakespeare (PEALS), Mark Gilbert (artist), Ken Arnold (Wellcome), Professor Ian Stewart (mathematician, writer) and others