UEA Archives Blog - UEA Library at University of East Anglia

KEY HIGHLIGHTS
VISITING FELLOW
ENQUIRIES - TOPICS AND THEMES
STATISTICS - VISITS AND ENQUIRIES

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

Digital Preservation Comes to UEA

UEA Archives has procured an exciting new digital preservation system called Preservica. This unique archiving system provides secure three way mirrored digital storage on UK servers. It has inbuilt integrity checking and automatically detects and migrates obsolete file formats. Preservica already look after some of the highest profile archive collections in the world including HSBC, The UK National Archives, the Cabinet Office and NATO. This system will help UEA Archives secure and preserve the future of our digital archive collections.

Snoo Wilson Prize for Scriptwriting, 25 April

An annual evening award ceremony showcasing dissertation scripts and the astonishing talents of UEA Scriptwriters was held in Lecture Theatre 2. We were transported through time, across the globe and encountered the terrifying and touching in equal measures.

Congratulations to this year’s winners: Asiya Lawal - ‘Fatima, Queen of the Djinns’ (MA) and Mae Milburn (UG) - ‘Dirty Angel’. More on the Snoo Wilson Archive and Prize for Scriptwriting.

Students seated on stage — Performers at the Snoo Wilson Prize for Scriptwriting event

Andrew Cowan Interview in the Archives, 20 May

Academic Director Jeremy Noel-Tod interviewed author and archive depositor Andrew Cowan in a recorded session investigating his writing career, his time studying creative writing at UEA and his integral role in the evolution of the programme.

Will Harris Archive Launch, 22 May

Uncollected poet Will Harris, who worked with BACW on the Mellon Foundation funded Centre for Contemporary Poetry in the Archive project ran a session of readings, interview and Q&A for poetry MA students as part of the launch of his archive collection. His illuminating collection of archives is available for consultation in the reading room. 15 attendees. Will Harris Archive.

Visit from Mushens Entertainment, 23 May

A highly successful visit from Juliet Mushens preceded an announcement of the ‘Mushens Entertainment Award’ for a student on the Creative Writing MA in Crime Fiction. This marks the beginning of a new partnership for UEA and a leading agency in commercial crime writing. Juliet was introduced to the manuscripts of a number of high-profile authors, the drafts of Lee Child’s ‘Killing Floor’, and correspondence with his publishers.

Research England Funding Enhances our Research Facilities

Installing a glass wall to enhance our research facilities

In late June our open-plan Reading Room was fitted with a glass partition. This has been on our wish-list for many years. With the support of funding from Research England we are now able to extend our research activities into this newly secured space. We can be sure of the security of our precious manuscripts and unique materials as they are examined by and exhibited to a growing number of individual and group visitors.

VISITING FELLOW

In May we welcomed Dr Ian Giles, a tutor at the University of Edinburgh. Ian is a visiting fellow of the British Centre for Literary Translation (BCLT) and the British Archive for Contemporary Writing (BACW). Using the archive of translator Patricia Crampton, Ian is researching and documenting the origins and history of the Translators’ Association, a professional organisation. Like Patricia, Ian is a translator of Swedish literature.

ENQUIRIES - TOPICS AND THEMES

BACW COLLECTIONS
DORIS LESSING ARCHIVE Margaret Drabble (novelist); Naomi Mitchison (novelist) ROGER DEAKIN ARCHIVE recordings WG SEBALD ARCHIVE recorded interviews.

OTHER COLLECTIONS
KENNEY PAPERS Votes for Women H.H. LAMB ARCHIVE History of climate change PRITCHARD PAPERS Lady Noel Norton; marketing and publicity in the 1930s; Ise Gropius UEA COLLECTION small bands and the local music scene; UEA in the late 1960s; unrest and occupation of the Arts block in 1971 ZUCKERMAN ARCHIVE IIASA International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis; History of the MOD; WW2 casualty surveys and distance sheets; Sir Hans Kornberg (biochemist); wildlife documentary filming.