Annan from Above - Launch

From Vivien Jones

the launch event
creative responses to aerial photographs of Annan 1919-1953
a community writing project

Six weeks is a very short time in which to produce a printed book. It is only due to the energy and enthusiasm of the participating writers that the task has been accomplished, and in great good humour. Annan and Kirkcudbright had been pin-pointed as two communities on the Solway, along with Cockermouth and Bowness-on-Solway, to take part in a cross-Border project organised by English Heritage, the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (HCAHMS), and Britain from Above with National Lottery funding.

The Annan project was particularly aimed at making a ‘creative response’ to the photographs and the first task was to work out what this might mean. Such a short time span for the project precluded original research so the first gathering included three 10 minute lectures by local historians who could give the writers a first indication of what lay under the surface of the photographs. The following workshops explored the many ways in which writers can take existing material and transform it into new work - we looked at poetic forms, the art of recollection, and interpreting layers of history through crop marks and old road and river pathways, our emphasis always on finding an individual voice to tell our tales. We could easily have called our project ‘Annan - Under the Surface’ - some of the writers made forays into the town to take a closer look at details of the architecture and layout of a place not much changed, if you look one floor up, from the 1929 photographs. Others were moved to recollection of school days by views of several Annan schools. Story-telling is an art in itself, much to their own surprise, some writers found themselves becoming compelling raconteurs.


The result of all this activity can be seen, heard and celebrated on Tuesday 9th September 6.30 pm - 8.30 pm at The Market Hall, Annan - where there will be displays of the Britain from Above photographs and of the work created, brief readings by the writers and distribution of copies of the book and a glass of wine or fruit juice for all. This is a free event - you are asked to arrive by the Museum entrance in Bank Street.
There is a project blog at : annanfromabove.wordpress.com which has extracts from work in progress over the period of the project. Annan TV has also been recording some of the workshops and will be at the launch event.
For further details contact : vivienjones@freeola.com Tel: 01461 700396