'A Letter to an Unknown Soldier' Writing Workshops

Contact: Please ring 0161 253 7682 or email culture@bury.gov.uk

A Letter to an Unknown Soldier is a new kind of war memorial; one made only of words, and by thousands of people. On the hundredth anniversary of the declaration of war, the people of Bury are invited to write a personal letter to the unknown soldier who stands on the memorial on Platform One of Paddington Station in London.

It is a fantastic opportunity to be part of a truly nationwide public artwork, to express your own thoughts and feelings in this WW1 anniversary year and to have your work published online alongside the work of highly distinguished authors and poets such as Malorie Blackman, David Almond, Owen Sheers, Benjamin Zephaniah, Val McDermid, Liz Lochhead, Melvin Burgess, Andrew Motion and Caryl Churchill. The project will be eventually housed as a national archive in the British Library for the benefit of future generations.

Bury writers can get involved by attending one of our special free writing workshops to support this memorial. Workshops will be led by prestigious author E.M Powell and will feature original archival material of Bury’s past to further inspire you.

The Centre for Cultural Collections (Bury Archives & Local Studies) Writing Workshop – Saturday 12th July 11am – 1pm
Prestwich Library Writing Workshop – Wednesday 16th July 1.30 – 3.30pm

Please ring 0161 253 7682 or email culture@bury.gov.uk to book a place on either workshop.


If you can’t make it to a workshop you can still get involved in one for the following ways.
• Writing your own letter - get inspiration from the website (www.1418now.org.uk/letter), watch the video (http://www.1418now.org.uk/letter/about/) and submit your letter online or by post from now until 4 August;
• Reading the letters that have already been submitted - www.1418now.org.uk/letter/letters - from 28 June you will be able to read ALL the letters the unknown soldier receives - including yours if you join in;


We hope that you will be inspired to take part in A LETTER TO AN UNKNOWN SOLDIER. Do join us on Twitter (www.twitter.com/LETTER1418) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/LETTER1418) to share your stories and to help spread the word. We look forward to receiving your letter soon.

E.M. Powell is an author of historical novels and short stories. A member of the Historical Novel Society, she reviews fiction and non-fiction for their magazine, the Historical Novels Review, and their website. Her short story, 'Kisses for Dada' was a finalist in the London HNS 2012 contest. She drew inspiration for this story from a letter included in Merseyside Maritime Museum's Titanic exhibition. Her monologue 'Off the Streets', about a the experiences of a police officer in 1890s Manchester, was performed at the Irish World Heritage Centre in March 2014.

Entry: Free

Time: 11:00am