About this Event
In 2021, Simon’s book WHERE? was published by Little Toller. A hybrid work of prose, drawing, painting, photographs and collage, it connects themes of belonging and grief associated with his father’s death in 2017 to the folklore, customs and social histories associated with his childhood home on Titterstone Clee Hill in Shropshire.
Simon is now revisiting Titterstone Clee as a new father, exploring how walking, drawing and other creative practices can be used to triangulate historical representations of place with voices in the archive and our own personal stories about the landscapes in which we exist, especially within the paradox of personal happiness in a time of multiple global crises.
Simon is an artist and writer. He is the producer of numerous zines of prose, poetry and pictures, including his regular series of writing and pictures documenting his life, Minor Leagues. He is the author of Now is the Time to Know Everything (2023) a book about the bewildering excitement of pregnancy and the heartbreak of miscarriage, written in the form of a love letter to a person who never quite came to be. His experimental memoir WHERE? (Little Toller, 2021) documents the unexpected links between landscape, grief, and childhood that appeared in the aftermath of his father’s death in 2017. Gardening Beneath a Falling Piano, a pamphlet of poetry, was published by Bored Wolves in 2024. He is Associate Professor of Creative Economies at UWE Bristol.
This talk is presented in association with the Manchester Centre for Place Writing.
Bunker Talks
This event is part of Bunker Talks. Bunker Talks invite artists and researchers to talk about who they are and what they do. Curated by the Performance Research Group at Manchester School of Art and the School of English, Bunker Talks explore geopolitical, ecological or economic concerns. The talks create space for critical encounters, presentations, provocation and dialogue as part of a civic conversation.
Originally conceived in the pandemic to explore how artists, writers, curators and researchers continued to make and share their work, live Bunker Talks now take place at The Salutation every month. Since 2020, over 170 talks have been hosted by Performance Researchers and colleagues from across the Faculty of Arts and Humanities. All talks are recorded, edited, captioned and then archived to create an online catalogue, capturing how artists, makers and curators think about the world today. Find previous talks here: https://www.art.mmu.ac.uk/bunkertalks/
Event venue & nearby stays
The Salutation Pub, 12 Higher Chatham Street, Manchester, United Kingdom
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