How do authors recreate the lost past? Why are so many historical novels dripping with wet paint?
To answer these questions, Joanne Rush will give a whistle-stop tour of the key portraits in historical fiction. At the end, she’ll take us behind the scenes of her new Tudor thriller, The Art of Limning. We’ll explore museums and archives from Scotland to London, looking for traces of the people who are hardest to find: the women, the working classes, and the West Africans who made a new home here. What were their daily lives like? What images of themselves did they see in the world? And if no authentic portraits have survived, can a historical novelist use her imagination?
Joanne Rush is an award-winning short story writer, an art critic, and a poet. Her fiction has been featured in collections such as Best British Stories and Northern Gravy, and her poetry is available in journals including Diet Milk and Across the Margins. Joanne got her first PhD in Renaissance Literature and Visual art from Cambridge University. As part of a second PhD in the Creative Writing Department at Bath Spa University, she is currently writing her debut historical novel - a tale of Tudor art, identity, and secrets.
This event is being hosted by Ex Historia, the history postgraduate research forum at the University of Exeter.
Cost: Free
Accessibility Statement: The Library can be accessed via Castle Street which runs parallel to Exeter Library High Street. The Library connects directly to the Rougemont Gardens.
The Library is in close proximity to Exeter Central Station (roughly 5 minutes’ walk), Exeter Bus Station (roughly 10 minutes’ walk), and many connection bus stops on the high street.
There are five Blue Badge spaces outside the main entrance and four / five at the bottom of the slope (on Musgrave Row). These are all public Blue Badge parking spaces however and not dedicated to the library.
The are numerous car parks situated within walking distance of the building, including Guildhall Centre Parking (EX4 3HJ), John Lewis Car Park (EX4 6AH) and Princesshay Parking (EX1 1EU).
The entrance to the building is wheelchair accessible. There is a circular ramp, as well as a small set of stairs. As you enter, you walk into our foyer and café area and can continue through the building to the main library floor, children’s library, and accessible toilet. The second floor houses our quiet area. The third has our Rougemont Lounge and Balcony, and Rougemont Meeting Room. The fourth floor has the public toilets.
All floor are accessible using a set of customer stairs or a public lift. The public toilets on the top floor have four cubicles, one of which is accessible (and baby changing). The Rougemont Balcony is accessible via a small step, however we have portable wheelchair ramps that can be used to allow access.
The toilet in the children’s library is accessible and has baby changing facilities.
The library furniture and bookshelves are laid out in such a way to ensure wheelchair access throughout.