Many parents who lose a baby, whether through perinatal loss, stillbirth, miscarriage or medical abortion, never talk about it. We allow silence to surround their grief. And yet, since the dawn of recorded culture, lost babies have been remembered through the written word.
In the 4000-year-old Sumerian 'Epic of Gilgamesh', the hero asks one who has visited the Underworld, 'Did you see my little stillborn ones who did not know themselves?' He is told, 'They enjoy syrup and ghee at tables of silver and gold'. It is a picture of gladness that consoles the grieving parent.
This in-person seminar at the Devon and Exeter Institution introduces writers, who are also parents, to talk about writing or translating their experiences of baby loss and grieving: the Russian novelist Anna Starobinets, author of the searing memoir Look At Him (2018), Anna's English translator, the poet Katherine E. Young, and Devon author William Henry Searle, whose memoir Elowen is due out in 2023 from Little Toller Press. Kate Stanton, a trainer for SANDS, the stillbirth and neonatal death charity (and a volunteer Befriender for the Exeter branch of SANDS), will also be present.
Our aim is to allow speakers and audience to share their experiences of baby loss in a respectful, sensitive, and mutually supportive way in the peaceful surroundings of the Devon and Exeter Institution, where an exhibition on maternal care in Devon will also be on display.
Supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council via an AHRC Networking Grant to Professor Muireann Maguire (Department of Modern Languages and Cultures) at the University of Exeter.
Cost: Free
Accessibility Statement: The main entrance to the DEI, (facing the Cathedral), has double doors, and is accessible for most wheelchairs. From this entrance there is level access to the foyer, and to the inner and outer libraries. We apologise for the current lack of lift access to the South Range rooms on the second floor.
As we are a small building, parking is limited, but a space can be pre-booked by contacting the office by phone: 01392 274727, or by email: office@devonandexeterinstitution.org. Priority will be given to blue badge holders. The side door into the inner library should be accessible for most wheelchair users reaching the DEI from the driveway, or the front entrance can be reached through the side door at the end of the driveway. Please do contact us if you have any further questions about your route into the DEI.
There are toilets on site, though the nearest fully accessible Changing Places toilet can be found in the Princesshay Shopping Centre, at the back of Nationwide.
If sounded, the fire alarm makes a repeated sound of two tones, and flashing lights will go off in the reading room and the toilets. On an ordinary day, ringing phones and door buzzers might also be heard.
Lighting is soft throughout the building, and may be low in certain areas. Assistance dogs are welcome, and staff will be happy to provide water for your dog.