The Brotherton Archive and Me

The Brotherton Library has featured in a BBC Radio 4 documentary, broadcast on 21 November, about writers who leave their personal archives to the Library.

In 'The Brotherton Archive and Me', Julia Blackburn talks to writers whose private papers, like her own, have been acquired by Leeds University Library.  In this documentary she talks to other writers including poets Simon Armitage and Sophie Hannah, whose private archives now reside in the iconic Brotherton Building in Leeds. 

Julia discovers how the material is archived and catalogued; in other words, how it is turned into a library in itself, with the help of curator Chris Sheppard.  These archives are important because they verify the published work and may reveal new insights to researchers, but there is also a magic in handling original documents, complete with doodlings, coffee stains and other evidence of a real life.

Listen to the programme.

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