The Writing Britain: Wastelands to Wonderlands exhibition at the British Library ended today (25th Sep 2012), and what a shame, as this was one of the most remarkably inspirational exhibitions I have ever seen. With over 150 literary works on display, it was hard to narrow it down to its highlights, but for me I have selected a few below:
1. Tolkien's drawing of 'The Hill' for 'The Hobbit'.
2. Lewis Carroll's manuscript for 'Alice's Adventures Under Ground' (exquisitely beautiful and precise handwriting).
3. Thomas Hardy's manuscript for 'Tess of the d'Urbervilles'.
4. J K Rowling's manuscript for 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'.
5. Robert Louis Stevenson's manuscript for the 'Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'.
6. James Joyce's notesheets for 'Ulysses'.
7. Kenneth Graham's manuscript for 'Wind in the Willows'.
8. John Lennon's lyrics for 'In My Life'.
9. Seamus Heaney an Felim Egan's artist book 'Sandymount Strand' (wonderfully-realised fusing of prose and visual art).
10. Charles Dickens's manuscript for 'Our Mutual Friend' (miniscule, compact and precise handwriting).
There were, of course, dozens of other highlights, but those above were my Top 10. What was most inspiring was to see these legendary works in their 'raw' originality; it's about as close to the artist/writer as it is possible to get and shines a light on their creativity and - most importantly - on the fact that (in the main) when these works were written, they were simply words coming from the imagination with no concept of the impact that they would have on the world. The important thing is to have the idea, and then to put it down on paper, nurture it, mould it, and then work with every living fibre to get it to a wider audience.
If there is one exhibition in the past 10 years that has inspired me to continue to write, photograph and draw - and seek an audience for the output - it is this one.
