Dr Katy Shaw (School of Language, Literature and Communication)

Falmer Campus, University of Brighton

This paper addresses the regeneration of coalfield communities in the North of England in the wake of the 1984-5 miners’ strike. During this period newly ex-strikers turned to the poetic form to make sense of the changes and developments brought about by their experiences. Exploring these writings as key examples of chronotopic poetics, this paper highlights the presence of a series of space-time intersections that unite to highlight the empowering presence of the past as a source of strength and direction in emergent post-industrial landscapes. This research analyses the ways in which regeneration writings reanimate and revitalise resistance and collectivism as key factors in sustaining and constructing an alternative post-industrial Northern future.

Dr Katy Shaw is Lecturer in English Literature in the School of Language, Literature and Communication. Her research is concerned with the role of literature in accessing new perspectives on conflict and social regeneration. Dr Shaw has worked collaboratively with the National Mining Museum and the Working Class Movement Library to analyse and digitise a new archive of materials produced by strikers during 1984-5 and is currently researching the role of literature in the regeneration of post-industrial urban spaces.