26 Treasures – Page 1

26treasures.com 26 Treasures About 26 i

26 is a not-for-profit collective of writers. It began in 2003 when eight writers came together to talk about what we do. In the conversation we discovered that there are at least eight different kinds of writer. We thought there were likely to be more although there seemed to be a unifying bond: a belief in the power of writing. So we invited others to join the group. We launched 26 formally in September 2003 at the London Design Festival.

Since then, we’ve hosted events, run special projects, staged exhibitions, published books, forged creative partnerships with interesting organisations: the British Library, PEN International, London Underground’s Platform for Art and many others including the four museums involved in 26 Treasures.

We now have hundreds of members – who pay an annual subscription of £26 – but receive no other funding. Our members include writers of all kinds: business writers, poets, novelists, copywriters, screenwriters, anyone with a love of words. You can find out more at 26.org.uk. New members are always welcome.

John Simmons is a founder director of 26, the editor of this collection and one of the writers. He is a director at The Writer and the author of many books, including most recently 26 ways of looking at a blackberry published by A&C Black, Room 121 (with Jamie Jauncey) published by Marshall Cavendish, and The angel of the stories, a novella published by Dark Angels Press.

26 Letters: Illuminating the alphabet edited by Freda Sack, John Simmons and Tim Rich Cyan 2004 26 Malts: Some joy ride edited by Stuart Delves, Jamie Jauncey and Damian Mullan Cyan 2005 From Here to Here: Stories inspired by London’s Circle Line edited by John Simmons, Neil Taylor, Tim Rich and Tom Lynham Cyan 2005 Common Ground: Around Britain in 30 writers edited by John Simmons, Rob Williams and Tim Rich Marshall Cavendish 2006 The Bard & Co: Shakespeare’s role in modern business edited by Jim Davies, John Simmons and Rob Williams Cyan 2007 26 Exchanges: Journeys between and behind the lines of language 26/International PEN 2009 26 Treasures Other 26 books ii

26 Treasures 4 national museums, 104 objects, 62 words each 26 Treasures iii 26treasures.com

26 Treasures iv This edition first published in 2012 by Unbound, 32-38 Scrutton Street, Shoreditch, London EC2A 4RQ unbound.co.uk Designed and typeset by Sam Gray (sam@madebyfabric.com) All rights reserved ©26 Characters Limited, 2012 The right of 26 Characters Limited to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978-1-908717-36-8 Printed in England by Arnold Moon Ltd

This collection is unusual in many ways. Flick through it and you’ll immediately spot many points of difference. It brings together the work of more than a hundred writers who were each given the same constraint: to write a personal response to an object in a museum, using exactly 62 words. Why 62 words? The organisation that brings these writers together is called 26 after the number of letters in the English alphabet. I’m a great believer in the creative liberation that comes from constraints, and I’ve written a number of books about this. My thought was that 62 represented 26 in reflection, and my belief was that this was a constraint that would work. This book is evidence that it has. It’s the first-ever collection of sestudes, as weve named this particular literary form. It’s a form that challenges a writer not to waste a word. Its also a form that, as you will see, is capable of infinite variety. Our writers have written poetry and prose; with or without metre or rhyme. They have used dialogue, some- times typography to mirror the object, worked with visual artists to create responses beyond the purely verbal. You’ll see the variety just in the appear- ances of the pieces on the pages; you’ll feel it even more when you read them. Our main objective has been to produce personal, emotive responses to the treasures of four different museums. Sometimes a visit to a museum involves rather more wandering than wondering. You walk past beautiful, ancient objects but they make little human connection. You nod. You move on. Perhaps you look occasionally at the scholarly information about date, artist, place, style. But it can be a dry process that fails to involve you. 26 Treasures Introduction to 26 Treasures 26treasures.com

26 Treasures Introduction to 26 Treasures We wanted to make a connection and to do so mainly through words. The curators from these four great archives selected 26 treasures’ from their collections. Each writer was randomly assigned an object. The writer might love or loathe the object. Whatever your reaction, write about it. What are the thoughts, feelings, stories aroused in your imagination by these objects? We started with the V&A in London, then the National Library of Wales, followed by the Ulster Museum where visual artists worked with writers to add to the rich mix, with the National Museum of Scotland completing the national set. The writing inspired by the various treasures is sometimes lyrical, sometimes funny, occasionally melancholy or even angry, always individual. We hope the words make you pause, think and take a closer look at the object – and at other objects. Perhaps, in doing so, we all gain a greater awareness of a number of things. This collection makes me think about why we value objects from the past, the human connections made across time by artefacts, what it means to be English, Welsh, Irish, Scottish or British. And much more. Within the strict confines of the sestude, using only 62 words, there is still space to think about universal themes. We all need space to think in. This is one of the best I’ve found. John Simmons

26 Treasures The Victoria & Albert Museum Collection 1 26treasures.com It started as a question I put to John Simmons. What would happen if we gave voices to objects inside a museum? Imagine it. 26 writers paired with museum artefacts – with each writer responding in poetry, prose or whatever else they could conjure. By summer 2010, the idea had become 26 Treasures’ – a celebration of a museum, and a celebration of words. The museum would be London’s Victoria & Albert. The words would form sestudes – 62-word personal reflections on 26 objects inside the V&A’s British Galleries 1500-1760. In September that year, 26 Treasures went live inside the museum, as part of the London Design Festival. Visitors found a treasure trail of red labels sitting beside 26 objects chosen by the V&A. Those objects ranged from the Great Bed of Ware (big enough to sleep 26 butchers and their wives, or so they say) to a locket containing a caul (foetal membrane, in case you weren’t sure). Writers volunteered to take part; we were overwhelmed by the volume of response, so we had to select the 26 writers who were quickest off the mark. Among the ranks of 26 writers were copywriters, storytellers and poets, including Andrew Motion, former poet laureate, Maura Dooley, and novelists such as Sara Sheridan and Miranda Dickinson. By 26th September, tens of thousands of visitors had enjoyed 26 Treasures at the V&A, and thousands more had visited the website. By the end of its time in London, other museums from around the country had shown interest in the idea. The trail began to grow. Rob Self-Pierson

26 Treasures Britain 2 After life From mud-matted hair, the bloodiest gold. Amid polished marble to take its weight. Return beneath the vaulted heights with scarlet rose, side by side. Death too soon. Our first to live. It comes again. Not once but twice. The silent cry of the newborn dead. The tear of grief in my Lady’s lifeless eye. For then, in hers. But now, in mine. Written by Jayne Workman Bust of Henry VII

26 Treasures Britain 3 Behind Closed Doors Hidden behind closed doors We sit, in our best clothes, Ancestors and living generations together A noble family tree. But we are more than this. We are private jokes, hopeful ambitions, Veiled resentment and disinterested glances. We are the learning we love and the issues we ignore, The excitement of achievement and the boredom of mundanity Squabbles, silences, shy smiles A family. Written by Miranda Dickinson Sir Thomas More and his family

Call that an armchair It’s a start. Not squishy, roomy, cosy, or pink to match the new sofa. And yet a definitely armed chair. Waiting. Imagine the bums that rested there. Briefly proud owners. A waiting creditor. Passing kings or queens. The unknown makers who shaped oak, bodged with pine. “ Try this seat, they said. It’s really quite comfortable. Thousands sat down. Only the armchair survived. Written by Lewis Blackwell 26 Treasures Britain 4 Armchair